A US Department of Commerce official said on Wednesday that tech sanctions imposed to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine are way more successful than predicted.

According to Thea D. Rozman Kendler, assistant secretary for export administration, “our export control measures, unlike financial sanctions, were never intended to have immediate effect.”

The United States Department of Commerce reports that “relative to the same period last year, US shipments to Russia of items subject to new licensing requirements have decreased by 99 percent in value.” according to Politico.

In reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States Department of Commerce, through its Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), announced also that has taken more new steps to weaken the defense, aerospace, maritime, and other vital sectors of Russia and Belarus.

The United States and European Union placed strict export sanctions on Russia with the purpose of denying Russian access to semiconductors that are critical for both economical purposes and the Russian Military.

“Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine has isolated his country and economy from global commerce, and today’s action furthers that isolation by adding 120 Russian and Belarusian parties in the aerospace, maritime, and defense sectors to the Entity List,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo.

“These parties are being effectively cut off from the inputs necessary to sustain Putin’s war and shows that the United States has the capabilities to detect, identify, and restrict parties in Russia, Belarus, or elsewhere that seek to support that effort,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves on an Offical US Department of Commerce press release.

Read more: Putin wants a quick victory over Ukraine to celebrate “Victory Day” – GEOPOLITIKI