Britain hits Russia with third wave of trade sanctions worth £1.7bn – including precious metals imports – in latest action against Putin’s war machine
- Britain hits Russia with third wave of trade sanctions and targets metals imports
- The new package – which also hits Belarus – is aimed at £1.7bn worth of trade
- Ministers take fresh action to ‘inflict further damage on the Russian war machine’
Britain has hit Russia with a third wave of trade sanctions and targeted precious metal imports in the latest action against Vladimir Putin‘s regime.
With Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine in its third month, the UK slapped a new package of sanctions on Russia – along with Mocsow’s ally Belarus – aimed at £1.7billion worth of trade.
The action by ministers attempts to further cripple Mr Putin’s war machine.
New measures against imports from Russia – adding an additional 35 percentage point tariff – will cover £1.4billion worth of goods, including platinum and palladium.
Russia is one of the leading platinum and palladium producing countries and is highly dependent on the UK for exports of the precious metals.
In addition, export bans on key materials such as chemicals, plastics, rubber and machinery will hit more than £250million worth of goods.
It is hoped these will harm sectors of the Russian economy most dependent on UK goods.
The action by ministers attempts to further cripple Vladimir Putin’s war machine as he continues his barbaric assault on Ukraine
A Soviet era T-34 tank parades through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow today
Russia is one of the leading platinum producing countries and is highly dependent on the UK for exports of the precious metals
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: ‘We are determined to do our utmost to thwart Putin’s aims in Ukraine and undermine his illegal invasion, which has seen barbaric acts perpetrated against the Ukrainian people.
‘This far-reaching package of sanctions will inflict further damage on the Russian war machine.
‘It is part of a wider coordinated effort by the many countries around the world who are horrified by Russia’s conduct and determined to bring to bear our economic might to persuade Putin to change course.’
The value of products subjected to full or partial import and export sanctions since Mr Putin’s waging of war against Ukraine is now more than £4billion.
The proportion of goods imports from Russia that have now been hit by restrictions is now more than 96 per cent.
More than 60 per cent of goods exports to Russia are also under whole or partial restrictions.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: ‘Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is causing suffering on an enormous scale. His barbaric war must be stopped.
‘Over £4 billion worth of goods will now be subject to import and export sanctions, doing significant damage to Putin’s war effort.
‘Working closely with our allies we can and will thwart Putin’s ambitions.’
Last week, Britain cut off Russia’s access to UK accountancy firms amid a ban on services exports.
It means Russian businesses can no longer benefit from Britain’s accountancy, management consultancy, or PR services.
These are estimated to account for 10 per cent of Russian imports in these sectors.
The number of UK sanctions against individuals and organisations also went above 1,600 as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss unveiled a slew of new asset freezes and travel bans.
Many of the 63 new sanctions put in place last week were targeted at Russian media organisations linked to Mr Putin’s disinformation campaign.