Prime Minister Boris Johnson has vowed to inflict ‘maximum economic pain’ on Putin as he announced further sanctions this evening. Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has had ties to Arsenal and Everton football clubs, is the latest to have been hit by the sanctions.
Meanwhile, a travel ban and full asset freeze were also imposed on former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov on Thursday evening. This takes the total number of oligarchs sanctioned to 15, PA reports.
Boris Johnson said: “For as long as Putin continues his barbaric attack on innocent Ukrainians we will continue to exert every power we have to inflict maximum economic pain on Putin and his war machine.”
But Roman Abramovich, who says he will sell Chelsea FC, was not among the latest tranche of sanctioned oligarchs. But government sources have conceded it could take “weeks and months” to build legally sound cases against wealthy and litigious targets.
Under pressure to act faster, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will establish an Oligarch Taskforce of ministers and officials from departments including the Home Office, the Treasury and the National Crime Agency to co-ordinate sanctions and build cases against targets. The move came after a Government source acknowledged the time-consuming nature of levelling sanctions at allies of the Putin regime.
“We’re working round-the-clock and going as quick as we can,” the source added, with Ms Truss understood to have tripled the size of the sanctions team in recent months.
Mr Usmanov, whose commercial ties with Everton have been suspended, has already had his assets frozen as part of measures taken by the European Union.
On Wednesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer questioned why Mr Shuvalov, who served under Mr Putin as his deputy prime minister, had not been sanctioned. Mr Shuvalov owns property in Westminster and is the chair of the management board of VEB, one of the sanctioned Russian banks.
Ms Truss said: “Our message to Putin and his allies has been clear from day one – invading Ukraine would have serious and crippling economic consequences. Sanctioning Usmanov and Shuvalov sends a clear message that we will hit oligarchs and individuals closely associated with the Putin regime and his barbarous war. We won’t stop here. Our aim is to cripple the Russian economy and starve Putin’s war machine.”
Both men are part of the Russian president’s inner circle, according to the Foreign Office.
In other developments:
Vladimir Putin said the Russian military has offered safe corridors to civilians to allow them to leave areas of fighting in Ukraine.
At around 6.45pm this evening, negotiators from Ukraine and Russia said a third round of talks on the war would be held shortly.
The chief rabbi of Kyiv said the Russian invasion has produced “a catastrophe” in Ukraine and that most Jews have fled.
Canada is calling for Russia’s Interpol membership to be suspended.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron vowed to pursue further discussions with Vladimir Putin. The French president said in a tweet: “I spoke to President Putin this morning. He refuses to stop his attacks on Ukraine at this point. It is vital to maintain dialogue to avoid human tragedy. I will continue my efforts and contacts. We must avoid the worst.”
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