Section 1 of the executive order prohibits "new investment" in the region, "the importation into the United States, directly or indirectly, of any goods, services, or technology" from the region, "the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply...of any goods, services, or technology" from the region, and "any approval, financing, facilitation, or guarantee by a United States person...would be prohibited".
The order also places economic penalties on individuals who breach Section 1 of the order, stating that they will be "blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in". It also bars immigration and non-immigration entry into the United States of anyone found to have violated the order.
The order is predominantly an expansion of a series of four executive orders (Executive Order 13660, Executive Order 13661, Executive order 13662, Executive Order 13685) signed by then-US President Barrack Obama in 2014, following the start of the conflict in Donbass in eastern Ukraine, and an executive order from 2018 (Executive Order 13849) signed by then-President Donald Trump.
The Donetsk People's Republic and the Lugansk People's Republic were recognised by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday after declaring their independence from Ukraine in 2014. The two regions are predominantly Russian-speaking, and ethnic Russians are a sizeable minority throughout the region.
Russia is the first member of the United Nations to recognise the sovereignty of the two regions. The Biden administration's executive order casts doubt that other nations will follow Russia's lead.
21 February 2022, 13:37 GMT
Analysts believe that Russia's formal recognition of the two regions could see tensions between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia increase. The US and its NATO allies and Ukraine have for weeks been accusing Russia of preparing an invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has sent troops into the regions to help maintain peace in the regions, an order by the Russian president that was part of the earlier signed agreement with regional leadership.