Russian President Vladimir Putin is the latest target of international sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, with the United States, Canada and European allies all announcing they are adding direct measures against him and his foreign minister.
With Russian forces on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early on Saturday, diplomatic appeals appeared to come second to imposing financial pain on Russia as global condemnation grew.
Asked if US President Joe Biden has planned any more direct diplomatic overtures toward Putin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday told reporters he had not, but “it does not mean we have ruled out diplomacy forever”.
Psaki said the US was preparing individual sanctions on Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, likely to include travel bans.
The announcement came hours after the European Union announced it intended to freeze Putin’s assets, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told NATO leaders his country would sanction Putin and Lavrov.
Psaki said the US would also newly sanction the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which functions as a sovereign wealth fund meant to draw capital into the Russian economy. The US and European allies earlier announced sweeping asset freezes and other penalties against Russia’s banks, state-owned enterprises and elites.
The US measures block Putin and Lavrov from access to any assets within reach of US officials, and bar anyone in the United States from doing business with them. Members of Russia’s security council also were sanctioned.
EU ministers have said further sanctions are possible, including kicking Russia out of SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions.
Russia has imposed its own tit-for-tat measures, banning British flights to and over its territory in retaliation to a similar UK ban on Aeroflot flights.
Russian authorities also announced the “partial restriction” of access to Facebook after the social media network limited the accounts of Kremlin-backed media outlets.
Russia also vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding Moscow stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops.
The international measures against Russia have included an extraordinary visit by Pope Francis to the Russian Embassy to “express his concern about the war”, according to the Vatican.
In the sports world, the UEFA Champions League final has been stripped from St Petersburg, while Formula One has dropped this season’s Russian Grand Prix.
In pop culture, the popular Eurovision song contest has banned Russia from its May finals in Italy.
Countries in Asia and the Pacific have joined the US, the EU and others in sanctioning Russian banks and leading companies and setting up export controls aimed at starving Russia’s industries and military of semiconductors and other high-tech products.
Australia on Saturday said it is imposing sanctions against all 339 members of the Russian parliament as well as eight Russian oligarchs close to Putin and is seeking advice on sanctions against Putin and Lavrov.
Japan and South Korea said their foreign ministers had spoken with Blinken, although Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to say whether Japan plans to impose sanctions on Putin or Lavrov.
China has continued to denounce sanctions against Russia and blamed the US and its allies for provoking Moscow.
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