NEW YORK (AP) – New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order on Sunday forbidding her state from doing business with Russia, including cancelling its investments there.
The governor also said New York will welcome Ukrainian refugees in response to Russia’s invasion, noting at a press conference in Albany that her state is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the United States (US).
“We have said we’ll open up our hearts, our homes, our resources to the people of the Ukraine, to say, ‘We stand with you’,” Hochul said. Federal estimates show that around 140,000 of the more than one million people in the US who report Ukrainian ancestry live in New York. “If you need a place to stay, you want to come over here, we will help you become integrated into our community,” she said.
Hochul didn’t immediately get into specifics regarding her state’s economic sanctions against Moscow – including how much the state has invested in Russian entities – but pointed out that New York’s economy is larger than that of Russia. The governor’s executive order means the state “will not permit its own investment activity, whether directly or indirectly, to aid Russia as it commits these human rights violations and atrocities”.
“We strongly condemn the action of Putin and Russia for this unprovoked attack which is now leading to atrocities against innocent human beings, and that is not tolerable,” Hochul said.
Hochul ordered state agencies to divest money and assets from investments in companies or institutions determined to be a “Russian or supporting entity”. And she forbid the state from doing business with such entities.
