Countries across the world are announcing wide-ranging and increasingly severe sanctions against Russia intended to punish that country for its invasion of Ukraine. Some territories have also targeted individual Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin, Defence Minister General Sergey Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, as well as members of Russia’s Parliament known officially as the Duma.
The European Union, the United States, The United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey are among those that have instituted harsh measures against the regime. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron announced measures, vowing to inflict “maximum impact on the Russian economy and political elite.” “We will hold the Kremlin accountable,” said von der Leyen.
As a result of Putin’s ongoing assault on Ukraine, @POTUS and the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and Canada decided to take specific measures to further isolate Russia from the international financial system.
https://t.co/eZnPteQWD1— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 26, 2022
The sanctions are primarily aimed at disrupting Russia’s financial, energy and transport sectors, and include export and trade bans. Russia’s technology sector is also being targeted in an effort to impede Russia’s ability to manufacture weapons including tanks, aircraft, ships, and missiles, among other machinery. Countries have frozen Russia’s financial assets: New Zealand is prohibiting the export of goods to the Russian military and security forces, even as the US President Joe Biden unveiled harsh new measures, saying: “Putin chose this war.” Meanwhile, in a speech to the British Parliament, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country’s goal was “to exclude Russian banks from the UK financial system.”
In a new and significant development, within the last 24 hours, numerous countries have banned Russian aircraft from operating in those countries’ airspaces. On Sunday, Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican, called the Russian government “a pariah” and said the US should continue “cranking up the sanctions against what is an evil regime.” Russian aircraft are now banned from the air over Canada, Germany, Italy, France, and numerous other territories across Europe, the Americas, and other regions of the world.
While the Russian military continues to advance in Ukraine, and President Putin seems determined to continue the invasion, it appears that much of the rest of the world is equally determined to tighten the screws on Putin in what is clearly an escalating situation.
More, In The Ring.
