Russian President Vladimir Putin is the latest target of sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, with the US, Canada and European allies announcing they are adding direct measures against him and his foreign minister.
Russia said that relations with the West were reaching a “point of no return.”
With Russian forces on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital yesterday, diplomatic appeals appeared to come second to imposing financial pain on Russia as global condemnation — and frustration — grew.
Photo: EPA-EFE
French naval forces have intercepted in the Channel a cargo vessel loaded with vehicles heading for Russia’s Baltic port city of St Petersburg after sanctions agreed by the EU against Russia, officials said.
The Russian-flagged Baltic Leader, which had set sail from the French city of Rouen, was escorted to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer by French forces, the maritime prefecture told reporters.
It is suspected of belonging to a company targeted by EU sanctions against Moscow, it added.
Photo: AFP
Asked if US President Joe Biden has planned any more direct diplomatic overtures toward Putin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday told reporters he had not, but “it does not mean we have ruled out diplomacy forever.”
Psaki said the US was preparing individual sanctions on Putin and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, likely to include travel bans.
The US would also newly sanction the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which functions as a sovereign wealth fund meant to draw capital into the Russian economy, Psaki said.
The US and European allies earlier announced sweeping asset freezes and other penalties against Russia’s banks, state-owned enterprises and elites.
The US measures block Putin and Lavrov, whom the US Department of the Treasury’s formal announcement of the sanctions described as Putin’s “chief propagandist,” from access to any assets within reach of US officials and bar anyone in the US from doing business with them. Members of Russia’s security council were also sanctioned.
The sanctions to be imposed would not ban contact between, for example, Putin and Biden, or US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Lavrov.
It was unclear what the practical impact on Putin and Lavrov would be and how important their assets in Europe were.
Russia’s relations with the West are reaching “a point of no return,” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday in comments carried by state media.
EU ministers have said further sanctions are possible, including kicking Russia out of SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada supports the removal of Russia from the SWIFT banking system.
The international measures against Russia have included an extraordinary visit by Pope Francis to the Russian embassy to “express his concern about the war,” the Vatican said.
Separately, the Eurovision song contest banned Russia from the May finals in Italy.
Australia yesterday said it is imposing sanctions against all 339 members of the Russian parliament as well as eight Russian oligarchs close to Putin, and is considering sanctions against Putin and Lavrov.
Japan and South Korea yesterday said their foreign ministers had spoken with Blinken.
However, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to say whether Japan plans to impose sanctions on Putin or Lavrov.
Additional reporting by AFP
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