Details of British sanctions against the oligarchy and ‘isolation of Russian banks’

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss described in a statement the details of the sanctions against Russia, which were announced earlier by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It said the “first wave” of sanctions against the country had “hit the oligarchy and banks close to the Kremlin” and sent a “clear message” that London would impose heavy economic costs on Russia and harm its strategic interests.

The British government said in a statement that the oligarchs in the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the banks that had a role in Russia’s occupation of Crimea were targeted by sanctions. Truss says London is “ready to go much further” if Russia does not back down. The UK threatens to limit the ability of the Russian state and its companies to raise money in British markets, as well as to ban a number of high-tech exports and “further isolate Russian banks from the global economy.”

Britain has frozen assets and imposed travel bans on three Russian oligarchs linked to the Kremlin, Gennady Timchenko, Russia’s sixth-richest ruler, and Boris and Igor Rothenberg, long-time partners in the regime, according to London. The banks with frozen assets are the Bank of Russia, the Black Sea Bank for Development and Reconstruction, IS Bank, Genbank and Promsvyazbank.

The UK will continue to impose sanctions on members of the legislature and the Federation Council of the Russian Federation who vote to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, “in flagrant violation of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty”. It also says that in the coming weeks it will extend regional sanctions on Crimea to Donetsk and Luhansk and that no British individual or company will be able to deal with these territories until they are returned to Ukrainian control.

Biden talks about the crisis

The White House said that US President Joe Biden will speak at 4 pm (GMT) on the crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s interference in the case. No information was available about the possible announcement of sanctions against Russia. Shortly thereafter, the US president participated in a virtual event on “progress in securing essential metals supply chains, promoting clean energy manufacturing and creating high-paying jobs,” according to the White House.