Russia-Ukraine Crisis: US, Japan and Others To Impose Sanctions Against Kremlin.

With growing possibilities of invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the Western countries, Japan and the European Union have punished Russia by announcing new sanctions for ordering troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine. 

As Russia recognized the two separatist regions — Donetsk and Luhansk — in Ukraine’s east as independent states, the Western nations have threatened to go further if Moscow launched an all-out invasion of its neighbour.

Countries including, the United States, the European Union, Britain, Australia, Canada, and Japan have announced plans to target Russian banks and elites while Germany halted a major gas pipeline project from Russia.

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Bitter about Ukraine’s long-term goal to join NATO and claim it as historic Russian land, Russian President Vladimir Putin has amassed more than 150,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders, according to U.S. estimates, and ordered soldiers into the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions to “keep the peace”.

Satellite imagery over the past 24 hours shows several new troop and equipment deployments in western Russia and more than 100 vehicles at a small airfield in southern Belarus, which borders Ukraine.

Here are the sanctions announced by different countries against Russia:

USA:

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) announced new sanctions against Russia and called President Vladimir Putin’s moves in eastern Ukraine the “beginning of a Russian invasion”. Speaking on the Russia-Ukraine crisis from the White House, Biden also called Putin’s moves the “beginning of a Russian invasion” of Ukraine as he announces new sanctions against Moscow.

“We are implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions: VEB and their military bank,” Biden said adding, “We are implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russia’s sovereign debt. That means we have cut off Russia’s government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and can not trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.”

“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belongs to his neighbours?” Biden asserted from the White House podium.

Britain:

The UK government on Tuesday imposed tough sanctions against five Russian banks and three super-rich oligarchs from the country over President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive action on the Ukraine border. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that this is the “first tranche” of measures in response to Russian troops moving into two separatist regions of Ukraine.

The sanctions target Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and the Black Sea Bank, as well as billionaires Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg as three “very high net worth individuals”. All three have been on the US sanctions list for a number of years as associates of Putin.

European Union:

The European Union is close to agreeing on sanctions on Russia that would put politicians and officials on blacklists, ban trading in Russian state bonds, and target imports and exports with separatist entities, senior EU officials said on Tuesday. The EU is planning a broad range of measures against Russia. The package of sanctions includes putting on an EU blacklist those who were involved in the decision to recognize the breakaway regions. That could involve all members of the lower house of the Russian parliament who voted in favour of the recognition.

The measures under discussion would also see a ban on trading in Europe of Russian state bonds and more generally “target the ability of the Russian state and government to access the EU’s capital and financial markets and services, to limit the financing of escalatory and aggressive policies,” the statement said. Banks involved in financing separatist activities in eastern Ukraine could also be targeted. The two regions could also be removed from a free trade deal between the EU and Ukraine, “to ensure that those responsible clearly feel the economic consequences of their illegal and aggressive actions,” the statement said.

Germany:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has suspended the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline after Russia recognized separatist-held regions in eastern Ukraine, with the West fearing a full-scale invasion is next. The undersea pipeline directly links Russian gas to Europe via Germany and is complete but not yet operating. It has become a major target as Western governments try to exert leverage on Russia to deter further military moves against its neighbour.

Japan:

Japan is imposing sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday, terming Moscow’s moves an unacceptable violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and international law. Japan’s sanctions include prohibiting the issuance of Russian bonds in Japan and freezing the assets of certain Russian individuals as well as restricting travel to Japan.

Japan has sufficient reserves of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) so that there will not be a significant impact on energy supplies in the short term, Kishida said. Should oil prices rise further, he said he would consider all possible measures to limit the impact on companies and households. Kishida said Japan would remain in close contact with other G7 nations and the international community.

Canada:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced a first round of economic sanctions on Russia. Trudeau said his government will ban Canadians from all financial dealings with the so-called “independent states” of Luhansk and Donetsk. Canada will also ban Canadians from engaging in purchases of Russian sovereign debt, he added.

The Canadian prime minister said his government will sanction members of the Russian parliament who voted for the decision to recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent. Canada will apply additional sanctions on two state-backed Russian banks and prevent any financial dealings with them, Trudeau said.

Australia:

Australia is imposing sanctions on Russia for its recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR), Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. “It is absolutely unacceptable that Russia could invade its neighbor… The Australian government will immediately begin placing sanctions on Russian individuals in response to the aggression by Russia against Ukraine”, Morrison said.

“We will also… extend existing sanctions that apply to Crimea and Sevastopol to the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Initially, we will impose travel bans and targeted financial sanctions on eight members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation”, he added.