US Treasury Trolls Russia Over Country's Crappy Financial Markets

The U.S. levied new sanctions on Russian officials and businesses on Monday, and the Obama administration has been pushing the case that its sanctions are taking a toll on the Russian economy.

The Treasury Department on Tuesday tweeted out a chart making that case - comparing the Russian economy to other major emerging markets and noting some of the factors that have pushed it to the brink of another recession.

Russia's emerging-market equity performance is down 13.3% year-over-year, far below Mexico's 5.3% decline. The Russian Ruble, meanwhile, has depreciated 7.7% against the U.S. dollar, another low for major emerging markets. And the change in its 10-year yield has been 171, below such countries as South Africa, India, Hungary, Poland, and Colombia.

Here's the chart:

The U.S. sanctioned seven more Russian officials and 17 companies involved in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine on Monday, including the country's biggest oil tycoon. U.S. officials stressed the sanctions were working, even if Russian President Vladimir Putin's calculus hadn't immediately changed in response.

"We don't expect there to be an immediate change in Russian policy. What we need to do is to steadily show the Russians that there are going to be much more severe economic pain, much more severe political isolation, and frankly, that Russia stands far more to lose continuing these actions over time than pursuing de-escalation," a senior administration official said.

"And ultimately, we believe that that can affect Russia's calculus over time and give them the incentive to deescalate this situation."