Russia has come under international condemnation because of its actions in Ukraine. As shown by this timeline, there has been a turbulent history since Ukraine became independent in 1991.
Sanctions have formed a part of the response by the UK Conservative government.
The imposition of sanctions is authorised
principally by the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and, in relation to Russia, by Regulations made in 2019 - the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. According to Regulation 4, the regulations are made "for the purposes of encouraging Russia to cease actions destabilising Ukraine or undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine."The UK government has published information about sanctions regimes still in force and there is a Sanctions List
A further publication is the Asset Freeze List, At the time of writing this lists 188 individuals under the heading Regime: Russia.
Sanctions are a signal of disapproval of the actions of another State but, as discussed in this 2015 article published on the World Economic Forum website, it is debatable whether they are actually effective in persuading an aggressive leadership to change its position. Sanctions can be a double-edged sword and lead to counter-sanctions and unintended consequences.
UK Financial sanctions - General Guidance - This guidance is produced by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, which is the authority for the implementation of financial sanctions in the UK.
Notes:
Russia: 6.6 million square millions (one-eighth of the world's land mass). Population 146 m. GDP in 2020 1483 billion USD. Russia has approximately 1 million in its Army with reserves of 2 million. Around a quarter of the EU's oil and half of its gas comes from Russia.
UK: 94,000 square miles with 67 m populations. GDP in 2020 2707 billion USD.
Ukraine: 233,000 square miles with 43.6 m population. Ukraine is highly significant in terms of mineral wealth - amounting to around 5% of the world's mineral resources
https://ukrainetrek.com/about-ukraine-nature/ukraine-natural-resources
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/climate/ukraine-lithium.html
25 February 2022
Links:
Ukraine crisis: financial and international trade sanctions | The Institute for Government
Media:
SWIFT is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications - UK says it will work ‘all day’ to persuade Europe to cut Russia off from Swift | Ukraine | The Guardian
Update 1 March:
House of Commons - Statement by Foreign Secretary on Sanctions
No comments:
Post a Comment