LONDON (Reuters) – Britain launched a new package of Russia-related sanctions on Friday, targeting ships carrying Russian oil, as well as companies and individuals supplying electronics, chemicals and explosives used to make Russian weapons.
The package was a response to recent Russian aggression, the British government said in a statement, referring to the higher numbers of Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in recent months, and the violation of NATO airspace over Poland on Wednesday.
“International action to increase economic pressure on Russia and to cut off critical cash flows which he desperately needs to pay for this illegal war is vital,” new foreign minister Yvette Cooper said as she visited Kyiv on Friday.
“These sanctions form the next stage in the UK’s leading efforts to ramp up economic pressure alongside our security support.”
The new sanctions target 70 more ships that Britain said were being used to transport Russian oil, and 30 companies and individuals that it said were involved in supplying the Russian military with kit used in weapons systems, including one China-based electronics firm and one located in Turkey.
Russia’s embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while China’s embassy said it had made “serious representations” to Britain objecting to the sanctions against three Chinese entities.
“These sanctions are unilateral actions without any basis in international law. They undermine the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” a spokesperson said.
(Reporting by William James, editing by Sarah Young and Kevin Liffey)
