The White House in Washington DCWASHINGTON Feb 27The United States expects that, having lost the support of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation after freezing its assets abroad, the Russian ruble «will break into free fall,» a senior official of the American administration told reporters on Saturday. «I have great confidence that the effect of the new measures will be immediately. I think Russian financial institutions and other market participants understand that without Russia's ability to protect its currency, it will fall into free fall,» a White House spokesman said during a special briefing. He added that the freezing of assets of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is not the only a measure that could be taken by the US and its Western allies against him. «Other steps may follow regarding the assets of the Central Bank, which we will finalize over the course of this weekend,» a senior US official said. Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, and on February 24 Russia began special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In response, Western countries began a new round of the sanctions spiral, which has been unwinding since 2014. Several of the largest banks in the Russian Federation, including Sberbank and VTB, fell under the new restrictions. A number of state-owned companies found it difficult to attract foreign capital. Sanctions have been imposed on the supply of high-tech products to Russia. Germany has stopped certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Great Britain has closed flights for Aeroflot. Also in the US and the EU, statements are periodically heard that one of the options for sanctions could be to disconnect Russia from the SWIFT international system of interbank transfers, but there is no unity on this issue in the West. There were no restrictions on Russian energy exports either. The Russian authorities said they had prepared a plan of action in advance in case of a new wave of sanctions and would provide any necessary support to businesses that fell under the restrictions, ensuring the smooth operation of the economy. The Russian authorities are also working on retaliatory measures, but the details are not yet known. Among the response measures taken to date is the ban on overflights of British airlines over Russia. Gorbachev
