UK hits Putin with more sanctions

BRITAIN is to slap more sanctions on Russian goods as the Government moves to weaken Vladimir Putin’s ‘war machine’.

A new package of measures will hit trade worth £1.7bn and include tariffs on imports of precious metals such as platinum and palladium – the latter is used to make catalytic converters in cars.

Russia is a leading producer of both, and the UK is one of its major markets.

The sanctions will also ban £250m in exports from the UK to Russia, targeting key materials such as chemicals, plastics, rubber, and machinery representing nearly 10pc of UK exports to Russia last year. They take the total value of British import and export sanctions to more than £4bn.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: ‘Working closely with our allies we can and will thwart Putin’s ambitions.’

International Trade Secretary AnneMarie Trevelyan insisted the UK was ‘determined to bring to bear our economic might to persuade Putin to change course’.