ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
The United States on Wednesday (July 16) imposed its most wide-ranging sanctions yet on Russia's economy, including Gazprombank and the Rosneft Oil Co, and other major banks and energy and defense companies.
Washington has steadily escalated its financial sanctions on Russia over what it views as Moscow's interference in its neighbor Ukraine.
President Barack Obama in recent weeks has repeatedly threatened new sanctions, and appears to have run out of patience as fighting continued to rage in eastern Ukraine.
"Given its continued provocations in Ukraine, today I have approved a new set of sanctions on some of Russia's largest companies and financial institutions. Along with our allies, with whom I've been coordinating closely with the last several days and weeks, I've repeated made it clear that Russia must halt the flow of weapons and fighters across the border into Ukraine, that Russia must urge separatists to release their h
