He also announced sanctions against another 370 Russian and Belarusian individuals and entities, including key political allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin and government spokesmen.
In addition, it cut financial support for exports to Russia and Belarus and announced that it will stop issuing new guarantees, loans and insurance for exports to those countries.
In a statement, the Government assured that these sanctions diminish the commercial prospects of both countries while further reflecting the economic impact of the action taken by the United Kingdom and its allies.
The new increase in import duties will represent a rise of 35% on current rates and will reach 900 million pounds sterling (more than 128,000 million pesos) in key products such as vodka, metals, fertilizers and other products.
“Our new tariffs will further insulate the Russian economy from world trade, ensuring that it does not benefit from the rules-based international system that it does not respect,” Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement.
Meanwhile, many companies have already withdrawn or suspended operations in Russia, including British carmakers Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin, and luxury fashion brand Burberry.
Russian airlines and private planes are also banned from UK airspace.
With today’s announcement, there are more than 1,000 Russian individuals and entities sanctioned since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
Among Putin’s political allies now sanctioned are Prime Minister Mijail Mishustin, Defense Minister Serguei Shoigu, and former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, as well as spokesmen Dmitry Peskov and Maria Zajarova, the latter singled out by allegedly “misinform”.
The United States, for its part, announced sanctions against the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and his wife, as well as against individuals and a Russian entity, for corruption and human rights violations, the Treasury reported.
In addition, a Moscow judge, Natalia Mushnikova, was sanctioned under the so-called Global Magnitsky Law, which aims to fight corruption and human rights abuses.
“Today’s designations demonstrate that the United States will continue to impose concrete and significant consequences on those who commit acts of corruption or are linked to serious human rights abuses,” said the director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Andrea Gacki, quoted in the statement.
The US State Department today also announced punitive measures against 11 Russian Defense Ministry officials in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
At the same time, Canada announced a new round of sanctions against 15 senior Russian officials and military officers, hours before Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky addresses the Canadian Parliament virtually.
Among the 15 sanctioned are the Vice President of the Russian Government, Dmitri Grigorenko and the Admiral in charge of the Black Sea Fleet, Igor Osipov.
The Government considers that this punishment will work as pressure for Russia to “reverse” its offensive against Ukraine.
The Western sanctions come hours after Russia approved personal sanctions against US President Joe Biden; the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken; as well as against other senior officials of that country and Canada.
Source: Ambito
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