British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the UK is imposing sanctions on Russian banks and individuals that the British government “has already prepared”.
“Today, the UK is sanctioning the following five Russian banks: Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank, and the Black Sea Bank, and we’re sanctioning three very high net worth individuals”, Johnson told parliament on Tuesday.
According to him, the individuals include Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg, who will will have their assets in the UK frozen, and who will also be banned from travelling to the UK.
He also said that the time has allegedly come to brace for the next possible stages of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan for Ukraine after Moscow’s recognition of independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, DPR and LPR, respectively.
“We must now brace ourselves for the next possible stages of Putin’s plan. The violent subversion of areas of eastern Ukraine by Russian operatives and their hirelings, followed by a general offensive by the nearly 200,000 Russian troops gathered on the frontiers at peak readiness to attack”, Johnson argued.
The UK prime minister, who earlier pledged that Britain’s sanctions will “hit Russia very hard”, also said that “it is absolutely vital that we hold in reserve further powerful sanctions […] in view of what President [Vladimir] Putin may do next”.
“We want to stop Russian companies from being able to raise funds in sterling or indeed in dollars…We want them to stop raising funds on UK markets and we want to strip away the veil that conceals the ownership of property in this country”, he added. Additionally, Johnson urged to avoid “Russophobia” when hammering out the sanctions against Russia, warning not to use restrictions against individuals on the basis of their nationality.
Separately, the prime minister said that he welcomes Germany’s decision to stop the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which was announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier on Tuesday.
Read the full story on Sputnik News
