U.S. President Joe Biden is due to announce additional "sweeping" sanctions against industry sectors supporting Russia's war on Ukraine on Friday, when he meets virtually with other Group of Seven leaders, the White House said.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that the targets of the new sanctions include Russian banks, the technology and defense industries, and actors in other countries attempting to "backfill and evade our sanctions."
A senior State Department official separately said that Chinese firms active in evading existing sanctions will be among the targets.
Victoria Nuland, the under secretary of state for political affairs, said at a Washington Post event that the United States will be putting constraints on "Chinese-based or Chinese subs of entities in Europe," stressing that their alleged activity "is not something that can be done under the carpet while China professes to be neutral."
The online meeting to be hosted by Japan, which holds this year's presidency of the group of major democratic economies, is timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It will be attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in addition to the leaders of the G-7, which also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy, plus the European Union.
"The G-7 has become an anchor of our strong and united response to Russia," Jean-Pierre said. "Tomorrow, the leaders will discuss how we continue supporting Ukraine and continue to increase pressure on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and all those who enable his aggression."
Jean-Pierre also said the United States will unveil more assistance for Ukraine to help it protect citizens from the prolonged war and provide basic services such as electricity, and to boost its military's success on the battlefield.
During the daily press briefing, she praised Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's announcement earlier this week that Tokyo will provide $5.5 billion in additional financial aid for the rebuilding of infrastructure in Ukraine.
"Our alliance with Japan and Japan's strong partnerships with countries in Europe only demonstrate the point we've been making all along -- the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic are not separate theaters here, but firmly linked together," she said.
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