The announcement to ban the import of Russian gold cam as a retaliatory measure after Russia carried out a series of missile attacks on Kyiv
The Group of Seven (G7) nations will announce a ban on the import of Russian gold to hit Russia’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine.
The announcement was made on the first day of the G7 Summit in Germany. This came as Russia carried out a series of missile attacks on Kyiv. Russian attacks hit a residential building and a kindergarten compound in the center of Kyiv. The ban was initially flagged by the United Kingdom (U.K.).
Taking it to twitter, the President of the United States (U.S.) – Joe Biden tweeted,
The United States has imposed unprecedented costs on Putin to deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war against Ukraine.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 26, 2022
Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia.
The Prime Minister of the U.K. – Boris Johnson tweeted,
The measures we have announced today will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) June 26, 2022
We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding. The UK and our allies are doing just that. https://t.co/SyjtaqpuXf
The sanctioning of Russian gold has been hailed as one of the Summit’s achievements and is likely to go ahead. The first day of the Summit focussed on the global economy as the Russian invasion of Ukraine drives up inflation and energy prices.
Gold exports are a major source of revenue for Russia in terms of their ability to transact with the global financial system. Gold exports were worth £ 12.6 billion (U.S. $ 15.4 billion) to Russia in 2021.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine – Dmytro Kuleba called on G7 countries to respond to the new missile attack on Kyiv by imposing further sanctions on Russia and providing more heavy weapons to Ukraine.
The sanctions against Russia have started to impact the Russian economy. Western nations imposed widespread sanctions targeting its finances, including freezing its Central Bank assets to block access to foreign currency reserves.
With Germany being the host, The G7 summit provides an opportunity for Chancellor of Germany – Olaf Scholz to demonstrate more assertive leadership in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
In other developments, Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region is now almost entirely under Russian control. However, Ukrainian forces continue to defend the neighboring city of Lysychansk. The President of Russia – Vladimir Putin said that Russia will transfer nuclear-capable Islander-M missile systems to its ally Belarus over the coming months. The Iskander-M is a Russian-built short-range ballistic missile system that can carry conventional or nuclear warheads with a maximum range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles).
