Western Sanctions Begin to Bite- 25 February 2022 (17.12pm GMT)
As of 25 February 2022, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States have officially imposed some form of sanctions against Russia.
The UK’s sanctions spanned a wide range of industries, targeting specific ‘high-tech industrial exports’ and encompassed individual oligarchs and politicians as well as businesses and banks. In total, 8 individuals, 6 banks, and 5 companies have all come under the UK government’s sanctions. Additionally, Russia’s national airline Aeroflot was also banned from UK airspace. The UK have been the biggest proponents of shutting Russia out of the SWIFT international banking system.
The US followed with their round of sanctions on 7 Russian individuals and 7 banks. It further sanctioned “export blocks on technology”, promising that this was only the first step in an attempt to stop Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
The EU made a unanimous decision to sanction 3 Russian banks in addition to 27 individuals and entities, as well as 351 members of the Russian parliament on the basis of “undermining Ukrainian sovereignty”. The bloc is currently amidst talks regarding blocking Russia from the SWIFT system.
There are concerns amongst some allies, notably the USA and Germany, that cutting Russia off from the SWIFT system would force them into a closer economic relationship with the still-neutral China - without EU member unanimity, the Belgium-based messaging service remains open.