Russia and Belarus to face new UK sanctions ‘targeting £1.7bn of trade’
RUSSIA and Belarus will face a new wave of sanctions – targeting £1.7bn of trade – to “thwart” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, the UK Government has announced.
The sanctions, outlined by the International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, involve import tariffs and export bans.
New import tariffs will cover £1.4bn of goods, including platinum and palladium, “hampering Putin’s ability to fund his war effort”, the Department for International Trade (DIT) said.
The move will bring the total value of products subjected to full or partial import and export sanctions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to more than £4bn, the department added.
Planned export bans “intend to hit more than £250m worth of goods in sectors of the Russian economy most dependent on UK goods, targeting key materials such as chemicals, plastics, rubber, and machinery”, the DIT said.
Ms Trevelyan said: “We are determined to do our utmost to thwart Putin’s aims in Ukraine and undermine his illegal invasion, which has seen barbaric acts perpetrated against the Ukrainian people. This far-reaching package of sanctions will inflict further damage on the Russian war machine.”
Mr Sunak added: “Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is causing suffering on an enormous scale. His barbaric war must be stopped. Over £4bn worth of goods will now be subject to import and export sanctions, doing significant damage to Putin’s war effort.”
This is the third round of trade sanctions announced by the UK Government, the DIT said, adding “and, excluding gold and energy, will bring the proportion of goods imports from Russia hit by restrictions to more than 96%, with more than 60% of goods exports to Russia under whole or partial restrictions”.
The department said “around £1.4bn of imports will face an additional 35 percentage-point tariff” and legislation “will be laid in due course” to implement these measures.
Meanwhile, the bombing raid on a Ukrainian school where people were sheltering is a possible war crime, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.
Dozens are feared dead after the school in Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine was bombed and caught fire on Saturday.
Foreign Secretary Ms Truss tweeted: “Horrified by Russia’s latest attack on a school in Luhansk, resulting in the deaths of innocent people sheltering from Russian bombardment.”
She said the deliberate targeting of civilians and infrastructure “amounts to war crimes” and “we will ensure Putin’s regime is held accountable”.
Her comments came as G7 leaders including Boris Johnson and Joe Biden prepared for talks with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence suggested Russian forces were struggling because of the high casualty rate among Moscow’s commanders.
A defence intelligence update said: “Difficulties in command and control, as well as faltering Russian performance on the front line, have drawn senior commanders onto the battlefield, likely to take personal leadership of operations.”
This has put them at risk of being targeted, with “disproportionately high losses of Russian officers in this conflict”.
“This has resulted in a force that is slow to respond to setbacks and unable to alter its approach on the battlefield,” the update said. “These issues are likely to endure given the relative lack of operational command experience of the officers promoted in place of those killed.”
The UK has pledged an extra £1.3bn in military support to Ukraine, in a dramatic escalation of assistance for Mr Zelenskyy’s forces as they fight the Russian invasion. It is the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict since the height of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The £1.3bn, drawn from the UK’s reserves, includes £300m of military kit promised by Mr Johnson earlier this week, such as anti-battery radar systems to target Russian artillery, GPS jamming equipment and night vision devices.
The Prime Minister will host a meeting of arms companies later this month to discuss increasing production in response to the demand created by the conflict in Ukraine.
Officials said the announcement would help support the British arms industry, which could benefit from the global shift away from reliance on equipment from sanctions-hit Russia.
The Prime Minister said: “Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine, it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.
“The UK was the first country to recognise the scale of the threat and send arms to help the Ukrainians defend themselves.
“We will stand by that endeavour, working with our allies to ensure Ukraine can continue to push back the Russian invasion and survive as a free and democratic country.
“In the process, we are bolstering our own security and economy, turbocharging the development and production of cutting-edge defence equipment here in the UK.”
A defence source told the PA news agency the money represented an “initial” amount, suggesting greater sums could be required in future.
“This initial funding is a welcome move to get support to Ukraine as they defend against continued Russian aggression,” the source said.