Sanctions against Russia and the entourage of its President Vladimir Putin have been further strengthened by the United States and Europe.
The goal, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, is to bring the Russian economy to its knees and cut off the sources of funding for the “barbaric war” in Ukraine, as she described it.
Trade
Following the example of Canada, the United States and its allies in the G7 announced today that they are ending the “favored state” clause they had granted to Russia. This paves the way for the imposition of punitive duties on imported Russian products.
The US will also ban the import of seafood, vodka and Russian diamonds. In the EU, the ban applies to iron and steel.
Both the US and the EU will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia.
The Russians had already lost access to technological equipment and semiconductors for their military and oil industries, following a ban on exports of these items from the US and Japan.
Energy
On Tuesday, the United States announced an embargo on imports of Russian oil, gas and coal. The United Kingdom has followed suit by announcing that it will stop importing Russian crude and oil products by the end of 2022.
Europeans are divided as many countries, such as Germany and Italy, become dependent on Russian gas. However, the EU is planning to cut investment in Russian gas by two-thirds this year. It also forbids Europeans from making new investments in this key area for Russia.
Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, is among the companies that can no longer borrow from Western markets.
In another symbolic move, the licensing process for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was suspended, which would increase Russian gas supplies to Germany. The company that manages it has filed for bankruptcy.
Financial sector
The financial sector has been targeted from the beginning to limit Moscow’s ability to finance the war. Sanctions have gradually been extended to Belarus.
The US, EU and other countries have targeted Russia’s Central Bank, banning any transactions and freezing its assets. The ruble has since fallen sharply against the dollar.
Another serious blow was the exclusion of the largest Russian banks from the Swift interbank system. The ban also applies to Belarusian banks.
To avoid a circumvention of sanctions, the EU has expanded them to include cryptocurrencies and other crypto-assets invested by Russians to save their economies from the collapse of the ruble.
The faces
Hundreds of personalities and oligarchs have been targeted so far: including President Vladimir Putin himself and members of his inner circle, such as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov. Sanctions have been imposed on 386 lawmakers who supported the invasion of Ukraine, on Rosneft oil chief Igor Setsin, on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
European sanctions include a ban on entry into EU countries, as well as a freeze on the assets of oligarchs and Russian officials. A colleague of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov may soon lose her luxury apartment in London.
Washington has gone a step further by setting up a team of prosecutors to prosecute “corrupt Russian oligarchs.”
The transports
The airspace of all NATO and EU countries was closed almost immediately for Russian aircraft. Airlines such as Kazakh Air Astana or Turkish Pegasus Airlines have announced that they are suspending their flights to Russia due to the uncertainty created by the sanctions.
The aeronautics sector is generally affected: the export of aircraft, spare parts and equipment has been banned, the maintenance of Russian aircraft by Airbus and Boeing has been stopped, while London has also banned the insurance of Russian planes.
The ports of many countries were closed to Russian-flagged ships. Many large container companies have cut off supplies to Russia.
Media
The EU has banned the broadcasting of state-owned Russian media RT and Sputnik.
Facebook and YouTube, for their part, have decided to block the broadcast of these media in Europe. YouTube announced today that it is blocking media outlets close to the Russian government around the world.
Google has also announced that it is suspending the ability of Russian-funded SMEs to make profits through its platforms.
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