The UK has announced further trade sanctions against Russia, expanding the list of products facing import bans and increasing tariffs.
Bans will cover items including silver goods, caviar and wooden products, while tariffs will increase by 35% on £130m worth of products from Russia and Belarus, such as diamonds and rubber.
With these new measures, the UK will now be imposing import tariffs and bans on over £1bn of Russian goods, the government announced.
Sanctions package
The UK has already imposed increased tariffs on goods from Russia and Belarus, banning the import of many iron and steel products as well as the export of quantum technologies, advanced materials and luxury goods. It has also cut off any new UK Export Finance (UKEF) support for Russia and Belarus.
Sanctions now cover Russian banks, military equipment, flights, individuals, and billions in financial assets, reports the BBC.
A full list of sanctioned products has been published by the government on gov.uk.
Pressure
International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the UK is working closely with international partners to reduce the resources and funds Russia needs to carry out the war on Ukraine.
“We are taking every opportunity we can to ratchet the pressure to isolate the Russian economy and these further measures will tighten the screws, shutting down lucrative avenues of funding for Putin’s war machine,” she said.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said UK sanctions now affected £1bn of Russian goods and will impose "further economic pain on Putin’s economy for his barbaric and unjustified attacks on a sovereign nation”.
1000 individuals
Sky News reports that the latest round of sanctions also targets individuals outside of Vladimir Putin’s military, such as Oleg Belozyorov, the CEO and chairman of Russian Railways.
More than 1,000 Russian oligarchs and entities have been sanctioned since Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine a month ago.
Russian retort
The Russian president has said that “illegal” restrictions on Russian companies by Western states ran counter to World Trade Organization rules and told his government to update Russia’s strategy in the WTO by 1 June.
Speaking at a meeting on the country’s metals industry, reported by Reuters, Putin said that the West had banned Russia from buying components needed to produce rolled metal, steel sheets and other products.
“These measures (sanctions) run counter to WTO principles, to which European colleagues have constantly reiterated their adherence,” Putin said.
US sanctions
Marketwatch reports the US has also rolled out new sanctions on more than 40 individuals and entities in Russia, including commercial bank Transkapitalbank and the first set of penalties against cryptocurrency mining firms.
