On Monday, February 28, while introducing fresh sanctions against Russia, the UK promised a ‘full assets freeze’ on all of the country’s banks…reports Asian Lite News
In the latest development to sanctions being imposed against Russia in retaliation to its invasion of Ukraine, Britain’s Treasury said that it was adding Sberbankm one of the largest banks in Russia and Europe, to its list of entities sanctioned.
This move comes after the UK government, on Monday, announced that they would lock the UK assets of all Russian banks, and ordered British ports to turn away Russian ships.
On Monday, February 28, while introducing fresh sanctions against Russia, the UK promised a ‘full assets freeze’ on all of the country’s banks. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that the freeze would take effect ‘in days’, as part of new legislation to squeeze Russia’s economy for its ‘unjustified aggression’.
Last week, Britain joined the US and Western allies to prevent the Russian Central Bank’s ability to use reserves to support the plummeting ruble. The UK also cut selected banks from the SWIFT international money transfer system. Truss added that this was only the first step in a ‘total SWIFT ban’.
As the Briitish Foreign Secretary spoke in Parliament, the Treasury also announced asset freezes on Russia’s state development bank, VEB, and commercial banks, Otkritie and Sovcombank. Last week, the sanctions were added on several Russian banks, businesses, elites, and Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Meanwhile, more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were reported dead after Russian artillery hit a military base in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, Okhtyrka. In a related update, on Tuesday, March 1, a 40-mile (64.37 kms) convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened entry to Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. This comes a day after Russian military forces entered the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
Satellite images revealed a long build-up of armoured vehicles and artillery starting 29 kilometres north of the city. While Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence informed that the situation around the country’s capital, Kyiv, remains tense and in Polissya, Putin’s troops continue to resume the offensive in the direction of the capital. It was learned that in the Black Sea, due to adverse weather conditions, a naval landing operation in the coming days is unlikely.