US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the G7 (Group of Seven) countries agreed to move forward on “devastating packages of sanctions” and other economic measures to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine, following a meeting of a collective that represents half of the global economy.
The move followed strong condemnations from US and its allies, who called the invasion “a serious threat to the rules-based international order”, and a factor that “fundamentally changed the Euro-Atlantic security situation”. “This morning, I met with my G7 counterparts to discuss President Putin’s unjustified attack on Ukraine and we agreed to move forward on devastating packages of sanctions and other economic measures to hold Russia to account”, Biden said in a tweet on Thursday.
Biden was scheduled to detail these sanctions in a briefing later on Thursday, but had not done so till the time of going to print. The G7 was particularly critical of Putin, saying he “reintroduced war to the European continent”, and had “put himself on the wrong side of history”.
UK’s PM Boris Johnson gave the first indications of some of the sanctions. He told the parliament that there will be an asset freeze on all major Russian banks in UK, including VTB, the country’s second-largest bank, with assets of £154 billion.
{{/usCountry}}UK’s PM Boris Johnson gave the first indications of some of the sanctions. He told the parliament that there will be an asset freeze on all major Russian banks in UK, including VTB, the country’s second-largest bank, with assets of £154 billion.
{{/usCountry}}Hours before, in an address to the nation, Johnson said, “Our worst fears have now come true, and all our warnings have proved tragically accurate.”
The Russian national carrier Aeroflot will be banned from flying into the country, he said, and added that “hundreds” of more people linked to Putin will have their assets in UK frozen and the amount of money Russians can deposit in UK will be limited. This steps, he said, were similar to those being contemplated by the US, where President Joe Biden was due to make an announcement, but hadn’t done so till the time of going to print,
Earlier, Biden said Putin had chosen a “premediated war”, the people of Ukraine were suffering an “unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces”, and declared that the world would hold Russia accountable.
“Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable,” Biden said in a statement issued soon after Putin announced his decision to invade Ukraine. The US president also spoke to Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskiy to reiterate US support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
On Thursday morning, Biden first held a meeting of his national security council in the situation room, and then, a virtual meeting with G7 leaders on Thursday. This group includes, besides the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Back in 1997, Russia had joined the grouping, making it the G8. It was, however, suspended after its aggression in Crimea in 2014.
European Union leaders were also set to impose new sanctions on Russia, freezing its assets, halting its banks’ access to European financial markets and hitting “Kremlin interests” over its invasion of Ukraine, senior officials said on Thursday.
The bloc will also target Russia’s trade, energy and transport, among other sectors, and include export controls in what the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell described as “the harshest package of sanctions we have ever implemented”.