The federal government has urged several U.S. banks to avoid a lucrative deal to help Russia sell bonds because of sanctions imposed on the country over the conflict in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department and State Department told banks the sale would undermine U.S. foreign policy even though the sanctions don’t explicitly prohibit banks from pursuing the business, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Russia plans to sell more than $3 billion of foreign bonds, which would be the first issuance since the U.S. and its allies in 2014 slapped sanctions on the European country after it annexed Crimea and supported separatists in Ukraine, the newspaper reported.

“We continue to be clear in our engagements with U.S. companies that we believe there are risks — both economic and reputational — associated with a return to business as usual with Russia,” the State Department said in a statement. “It is essential that private companies -- in the U.S., EU, and around the world — understand that Russia will remain a high- risk market so long as its actions to destabilize Ukraine continue.”

Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are evaluating the situation, the WSJ reported.

Russia, mired in a recession amid record-low oil prices and a widening deficit, has budgeted for a placement of as much as $3 billion in Eurobonds this year, according to Bloomberg News. While the government itself wasn’t sanctioned, penalties have targeted corporations and individuals.

Russia has sent requests for proposals to 25 foreign and three local banks, including the Bank of China, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Barclays Plc, according to the country’s Finance Ministry.

Russian lenders include VTB Group, Gazprombank JSC and Sberbank PJSC. Other banks contacted were BNP Paribas SA, Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Deutsche Bank AG, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., Credit Agricole SA, Credit Suisse Group AG, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, Morgan Stanley, Nomura International Plc, Citigroup Inc, Societe Generale SA, TD Securities Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc, RBC Capital Markets, UBS Group AG, Scotiabank, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., UniCredit Bank AG and China Construction Bank Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to the ministry.