Dominic Raab said the UK has sanctioned ‘more Russian banks than the EU’, but Labour’s Anneliese Dodds said Britain has been ‘far too soft’.
04 March 2022
Announcing a sanctions package in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Boris Johnson said it was the “largest and most severe” Russia has ever faced.
So what has the UK done, and is it working?
– What sanctions has the UK imposed to date?
Since the invasion of Ukraine, the UK has sanctioned 13 of Russia’s leading oligarchs.
The Government said more than 220 individuals and entities have been “caught by our sanctions” since the invasion.
Overall, more than 500 Russian individuals, entities and their subsidiaries across all sanctions regimes now sit on the UK’s sanctions list, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
– Who are the latest individuals to be added to the sanctions list?
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has had ties to Arsenal and Everton football clubs, has been sanctioned, while a travel ban and full asset freeze was also imposed on former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov.
The Government said Usmanov’s net worth is an estimated 18.4 billion dollars (£13.7 billion).
– What other sanctions has the UK imposed?
The Government said it has put in place a “tough package” against Russia, including sanctioning the Russian Central Bank, and banning the Russian state and all Russian companies from raising funds in the UK.
The Government said it will also asset freeze every Russian bank.
Alongside the US and other allies, the UK says the measures against Russia amount to the largest set of financial sanctions in history.
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK has sanctioned “more Russian banks than the EU”, including the biggest Russian bank Sberbank.
He told BBC Breakfast: “We’ve made it clear and introduced measures so that three million Russian companies cannot raise loans or get listed on the UK stock market.”
Other actions include a ban on Russia’s flag carrier Aeroflot landing in the UK, as well as Russian private jets.
On March 1, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the UK had become the first country to pass a law banning ships with “any Russian connection” from entering its ports.
– So the UK is being as tough as it possibly can?
Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds told Sky News the UK has been “far too soft”, and rejected the Government’s claims that it has been working strongly against economic levers for Putin-linked individuals.
Mr Raab insisted the UK has not “been slow”, telling BBC Breakfast that Britain is “at the vanguard” of imposing sanctions on Kremlin-linked money.
Roman Abramovich, who is selling Chelsea Football Club, was not among the latest tranche of sanctioned oligarchs.
– Can sanctions be imposed immediately?
Government sources have conceded that it could take “weeks and months” to build legally sound cases against wealthy and litigious targets.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is understood to have tripled the size of the sanctions team in recent months.
She will establish an Oligarch Taskforce of ministers and officials from departments including the Home Office, the Treasury and the National Crime Agency to co-ordinate sanctions and build cases against targets.
Ms Dodds said the Government must “act right now” and “stop dragging our feet”, voicing concerns that new measures could have “an 18-month window before they will come into action – that’s just not good enough”.
– Will sanctions work?
Ms Truss has said the aim is to “cripple the Russian economy and starve Putin’s war machine”.
But Mr Raab has said while economic sanctions are “starting to bite”, Britain and its allies need to “bed in and have the strategic stamina for the long haul”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme people can expect that “Putin would resort to ever more barbaric measures as he gets frustrated”, saying that is what everyone needs to be “alert to”.
