UK announces new sanctions targeting Russia’s financial system

The United Kingdom announced Thursday a series of sanctions designed to further constrain Russia’s ability to sustain its war in Ukraine, aligning with similar measures from Washington unveiled just a day earlier.

The UK’s package of 50 new sanctions targets Moscow’s financial system and suppliers aiding its military production. These sanctions are part of a coordinated action with G7 partners, currently convening in southern Italy.

The latest measures follow the United States’ imposition of sanctions on Wednesday, which included targeting the Moscow exchange and several of its subsidiaries. These sanctions have significantly raised the stakes for foreign banks still engaging with Russia.

In response to these sanctions, the Moscow exchange halted dollar and euro trades on Thursday, complicating billions of dollars in transactions. Moscow’s foreign ministry has stated it will respond to the “aggressive” sanctions from the US.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak affirmed the UK’s commitment to supporting Ukraine. “Today we are once more ramping up economic pressure through sanctions to bear down on Russia’s ability to fund its war machine,” Sunak said. He emphasized the necessity of cutting off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to finance the prolonged conflict, declaring, “Putin must lose.”

Among the new UK sanctions are the first aimed at vessels in Putin’s so-called shadow fleet, which is used to bypass Western restrictions on oil exports. The sanctions also target suppliers of munitions, machine tools, microelectronics, and logistics to Russia’s military. These suppliers include entities based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey, as well as ships transporting military goods from North Korea to Russia.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron highlighted the global scope of the UK’s sanctions strategy. “We are chasing companies across the world… we’re going after the money, we’re going after the oil, we’re stopping the gas, we’re stopping the ships. We’re doing everything we can to stop the Russian war machine,” Cameron said.

Additionally, Sunak’s office mentioned ongoing efforts with international counterparts to develop a mechanism to channel profits from immobilized Russian sovereign assets to benefit Ukraine. The White House has indicated that steps to support Ukraine using frozen Russian assets will be disclosed during the G7 summit.