A horde of 50 new sanctions have been imposed on Russia by embattled prime minister Rishi Sunak, as he joined world leaders in Italy for the G7.
The Tory leader also announced fresh support for Ukraine in its war against the Kremlin, which has now been going on for over two years.
The foreign office announced this afternoon that 50 new sanctions had been issued designed to “degrade Putin’s war machine”.
The meeting comes at a difficult time for Sunak, with the heat of a general election campaign gearing up with exactly three weeks until polling day. The Prime Minister was widely considered to have lost the debate last night hosted by Sky News, and his party is well behind in the polls. Whilst Sunak meets the G7 leaders, Starmer launched Labour’s manifesto.
The actions include Britain’s first sanctions against ships in Putin’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’, used by Moscow to get around UK and G7 existing sanctions. This is used to continue trade in Russian oil, which is state-owned.
Labour committed to providing £242m in aid to Ukraine, including humanitarian and energy assistance. The government also said it is working on arrangements to “bring forward the extraordinary profits stemming from immobilised Russian sovereign assets to the benefit of Ukraine.”
It said that Russian oil exports are crucial, with 31 per cent of its total federal revenues coming from taxation on the fuel. The sanctions look to disrupt that by increasing costs.
Sanctions also target arms suppliers, including firms based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan and Türkiye, as well as ships transporting goods from North Korea.
The foreign office also said it was hitting Russia’s financial institutions, including the Moscow Stock Exchange.
(left-right) President of the European Council Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen pose for a family photo during a welcome ceremony at the G7 leaders’ summit at the Borgo Egnazia resort, in Puglia, Apulia, Photo credit: Christopher Furlong/PA Wire
It sanctions how deprived Russia of more than $400bn worth of assets and revenues since the start of the war, and more than 2,000 individuals and companies have been hit. 29 banks accounting for more than 90 per cent of the Russian banking sector and over 130 oligarchs and family members who had a combined net worth around £147 billion at the time of the invasion, have been targeted
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: The UK will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in its fight for freedom. Today we are once more ramping up economic pressure through sanctions to bear down on Russia’s ability to fund its war machine. Putin must lose, and cutting off his ability to fund a prolonged conflict is absolutely vital.
Foreign Secretary, David Cameron said: UK sanctions are starving Putin of the revenue he desperately needs to fund his war chest and making it harder to supply his war machine. We will continue to work alongside our partners to increase economic pressure and demonstrate that the UK and the G7 will stand by Ukraine in this fight.