MOSCOW, April 28 (RAPSI) – The United States is weighing sanctions against Rosneft President and CEO Igor Sechin and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, The New York Times writes citing US officials.

Previous rumor that Sechin could be added to the sanctions list was not confirmed. The sanctions include freezing assets and prohibiting US companies from dealing with companies and individuals on the sanctions list. On April 26, the G7 countries coordinated additional sanctions against Russia due to the growing crisis in Ukraine.

The United States introduced sanctions against 20 Russian citizens and Rossiya Bank in response to the reunification of Crimea with Russia in mid-March. Following that, the Visa and MasterCard international payment system operators halted client operations for Rossiya Bank, SMP Bank, as well as their subsidiaries Sobinbank and Investcapitalbank, without notice. Some of the restrictions were later lifted.

Crimea, a largely Russian-speaking republic within Ukraine, was part of Russia until Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine in 1954. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to federal and regional officials that the decision was made in clear violation of the constitutional standards of the time.

Crimea moved for independence from Ukraine after having refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new government that came to power following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

On March 17, President Putin signed a decree recognizing Crimea as an independent state. The same day, the leaders of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and Putin signed a treaty on the unification of Crimea with Russia.