Sergei Lavrov and Vladimir Putin received sanctions from the US, Canada, the UK and the EU.
The United States, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom have ordered personal sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The assets of both will be frozen in these countries and, in the case of the US, a travel ban will also be imposed on that country.
The announcement came on the second day of the Russian attack on its neighbor.
Such punitive measures against leaders are rare. The EU has only imposed sanctions on the presidents of Syria and Belarusfor example.
The United States, for its part, has in the past taken similar measures against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as well as Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Russia said the moves show the West’s “absolute helplessness” in foreign policy. the country vetoed a draft resolution of United Nations to condemn the invasion of Ukraine after a debate in the UN Security Council.
“Russia has abused its power today to veto our strong words, but Russia cannot veto our words,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
India, China and the United Arab Emirates abstained from voting, while 11 other members voted in favour.
Later, the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said: “Russia has abused its power today to veto our strong words, but Russia cannot veto our voices“.”President Putin is the aggressor here, there is no middle ground.”
Practical consequences
It is unclear how significant Putin’s and Lavrov’s assets are in the US, Canada, the EU and the UK and what practical impact sanctions will have.
Dimitri Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, said on January 26 that such sanctions would not be “painful” for the president, but would be “politically destructive.”
He then added that top Russian government officials they are forbidden to have foreign assets or accountsand that Putin’s salary is deposited in the Russian bank Rossiya.
Putin’s income in 2020 was almost 10 million rubles, which was equivalent to about US$131,900 that year, according to the Russian news agency TASS in April 2021.
An official statement states that an apartment of 77 square meters, a garage of 18 square meters, two Volga GAZ M21 collection cars, an SUV and a trailer are registered in the name of the Russian president, all in Russia.
Vladimir Putin in one of his collectible Volga cars in August 2005.
This Friday, Peskov reaffirmed what he said a month ago and added that the Rossiya bank is already under sanctions. He further argued that measures they do no harm to any of the top figures in the Russian government.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added that the sanctions are “a demonstration of the utter impotence” of the West in foreign policy.
Block Russia from the payment system
As Russian troops advance into Ukraine, the latter has been pleading with the West for quicker and tougher sanctions to punish Moscow for its attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Europe to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow.
“They can still stop this aggression. They have to act quickly,” he said.
Zelensky wants leaders to insulate Russia from Swift, the system used for global business transactions.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson also urged the West to block Russia from the payment system to “inflict maximum pain on President Putin and his regime”.
But so far, the EU has opted not to separate Russia from Swift, reportedly over objections from some member states, including Germany and Italy, who are concerned about the impact on their own economies.
This Friday was the second day of attacks in Ukraine.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that getting Russia out of Swift was still an option, but only as a “financial nuke” of last resort.
Josep Borrell said the latest round of EU sanctions, the second since Russia launched its offensive, would be followed by a third, if necessary.
The latest round of EU sanctions is also targeting Russian elites and making it difficult for their diplomats to travel.
Russia responded on Friday with mirror measures against Western sanctions, banning British flights to and over its territory in retaliation for Britain’s ban on Russian airline Aeroflot.
