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New series of sanctions against Russia, mainly economic, were announced this Friday, February 25 by the European Union, Switzerland, the United States, Canada and England. Some directly target President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The United States announced on Friday its intention to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and ban them from entering their territory, an extremely rare decision against foreign leaders.
« It is a usual item sanctions against foreign personalities, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, while assuring that the details of these historic sanctions against the Russian president would be revealed later. The two men thus join a list of leaders directly sanctioned by the United States on which appear the Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, the president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, or even the Syrian president Bashar al- Asad. Canada, too, wants to take targeted action against the two Russian strongmen.
Already targeted by sanctions in Europe
The European Union and the United Kingdom had earlier announced financial sanctions personally targeting Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov, with the freezing of their assets. The measure is above all symbolic, analyzes our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet. There is currently no assessment of what the two most senior Kremlin officials actually hold, although the sudden departure of the Russian president’s private yacht from a German port last Sunday caused a lot of talk. All members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, are now blacklisted by the EU, along with 26 business figures.
The two Russian officials will not, however, be banned from entering the European Union, to leave the door open to a possible resumption of diplomatic channels. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stresses that the EU must ” severely punish » the two leaders of the war in Ukraine; for his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, it is necessary choke the system ».
From individuals to the Russian system as a whole
But this Friday’s sanctions were not limited to Russian politicians. The Council of Europe, which brings together more than 47 member states, has decided to ” to suspend » any participation of Russian diplomats and delegates in its main bodies. The OECD (the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) will close Russia’s accession process and close its office in Moscow in retaliation for the Russian invasion. British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced a ban with immediate effect from UK airspace to Russian private planes.
Putin’s actions are unlawful and anyone benefitting from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine is not welcome here. I’ve strengthened our ban in the UK so that no Russian private jet can fly in UK airspace, or touchdown – effective immediately.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) February 25, 2022
The question is also whether to go much further in terms of finance. European finance ministers are drawing up new financial sanctions against the Russian banking sector and the central interbank bank is assessing the implications of Russia’s exclusion from the Swift interbank system. If the withdrawal is decided, Russian banks or any operator acting internationally to import goods, for example, would be reduced to carrying out the work carried out by Swift themselves, which would considerably lengthen the duration of transactions.
Assess the benefit-risk balance
Such a measure is supported by many European countries, including France, even if the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire is well aware that it would be a “ economical nuclear weapon “. Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, said that his country ” strongly presses the withdrawal of Russia from the Swift banking system, but the United States has not yet decided for it, noting that some European Union countries are opposed to it for the moment.
Germany in particular has so far blocked the adoption by the European Union of the exclusion of Russia from the Swift system. Officially, the German government wants to keep a few cartridges in the arsenal of possible sanctions against Russia, reports our correspondent in Berlin, Nathalie Versionux. In fact, Berlin believes that the Swift sanction would affect Germany and Europeans more than the Russian government. Russia supplies 55% of the gas consumed in Germany, 50% of the coal and 35% of the oil, and Swift is one of the intermediaries to buy Russian gas.
It remains to be seen whether this whole range of sanctions will be effective. ” The sanctions against the president and the foreign minister of the country are an example and a demonstration of the absolute impotence of your own foreign policy “replied the spokeswoman for Russian diplomacy Maria Zakharova on Friday on Russian television. “ The fact is we’re close to where the point of no return begins “, she added.
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