The United States and its allies have announced a series of measures against Russia, following a decree by Vladimir Putin that recognized the independence of the two regions in eastern Ukraine.
Germany suspended authorization to operate the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the US imposed sanctions on US investment, trade and financing in separate provinces, and the UK announced sanctions on five banks and three Russian nationals.
In this report, the G1 collected the measures taken by Western countries against Russia:
The UK has announced a ban on five banks:
- Bank Rossia*
- black sea bank
- GenBank
- is bank
- Promsvazbank
* Bank Rossiya has been subject to US sanctions since the invasion of Crimea in 2014 due to its close ties with the Kremlin authorities.
Yet without an official announcement, the European Union (EU) submitted drafts of possible measures that could be imposed on Russia.
Initially, the European bloc is expected to restrict banks involved in financing separatist activities in eastern Ukraine.
The US government did not specify the exact measures to be taken against Moscow, but President Joe Biden signed an executive order with “comprehensive measures” to address the damage to the Russian economy.
The US would also have to ban Russian individuals and companies from the US banking system, impose sanctions on businesses and freeze their assets.
According to the Reuters news agency, which cited government sources, the US is likely to target banks:
- VTB Bank
- Sberbank
- VEB
- gazprombank
The British imposed sanctions on three Russian billionaires, allies of President Putin and whose fortunes increased dramatically after his rise to power:
- Gennady Timchenko
- Igor Rotenberg
- boris rotenberg
All of them have already received sanctions from the US government since 2014.
The European Union said it would resort to measures against five members of the Russian parliament, including the one chosen to represent Crimea – annexed from Ukraine after its invasion in 2014.
Energy companies and Nord Stream 2
Western countries could make it illegal for countries and companies to buy oil from big Russian energy giants like Gazprom or Rosneft.
Russia’s economy is largely dependent on the sale of gas and oil abroad.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the suspension of authorization for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia to Germany.
The length of Nord Stream 2 is 1,230 km. It passes under the Baltic Sea and has a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. It follows the same route as Nord Stream 1, which has been in operation since 2012.
