Ukraine's PM: 17,000 sanctions in place, costing Russia $400B to date
This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal of Ukraine, who addressed a government meeting on Tuesday, Ukrinform reports.
"In addition to military, financial, and humanitarian aid (to Ukraine – ed.), sanctions pressure on the aggressor state is increasing," he noted.
Shmyhal recalled that the USA, UK, and European Union have recently introduced new packages of sanctions.
"In particular, the United States has extended them to Russian energy companies, enterprises producing microelectronics for the defense industry, to the banking and IT sectors, and to Russian oil logistics," the head of government emphasized.
He noted that British partners have updated their sanctions list by 100 positions, so pressure will increase on those who help Russia evade restrictions on oil trade. Sanctions will also affect the diamond sector, production of copper, zinc, steel, etc.
Canada designated another 163 persons and entities – logistics companies, defense firms, and propaganda pundits.
"We are grateful to the European Union for the 13th package of sanctions. The latest sanctions apply to manufacturers of weapons and electronics. Stricter export restrictions have been implemented, including on companies based in third countries," the head of government emphasized.
According to him, Australia and New Zealand also contributed to the effort aimed at weakening Russia. "A total of 17,000 individual and sectoral sanctions are already in effect against the Russian Federation. Thanks to this, the enemy lost $400 billion," PM said.
He added that this is already a powerful blow to Russia, but "even more can and must be done", for example, to introduce sanctions against Rosatom, to disconnect all Russian and Belarusian banks from SWIFT, to limit the import by the EU of Russia’s liquefied gas, gold, iron ore, titanium, aluminum, copper, nickel, and palladium, and address the issue of Russian agricultural exports by banning the import of Russian agricultural products by EU member states.
The main thing, Shmyhal noted, is to reliably block all loopholes currently allowing Russia to evade sanctions. "Less profit for Russia means fewer missiles and drones fly to Ukraine, fewer losses at the front and in the rear, and closer to a just and sustainable peace," PM stressed.
"Also, together with our partners, in 2024 we aim to develop a single legal framework for the seizure of Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine. This is hundreds of billions of euros, that’s besides generated profits. This is what we need right now to ensure rapid reconstruction and to cover critical budget costs," Shmyhal added.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, Australia imposed financial sanctions and a travel ban on seven employees of the Russian penal colony where opposition leader Alexei Navalny died earlier this month.
Photo: CMU
