British Parliament approves tougher sanctions against Russia

The UK government has passed a law expanding the sanctions regime against Russia. This is reported by the official website of legal information of the United Kingdom. The amendments to the law come into force on February 10, but they do not mean the automatic imposition of sanctions. They only provide an opportunity to introduce them in the event of an escalation of the conflict around Ukraine.

The previous 2018 law allowed the country’s authorities to impose sanctions only against those who, in their opinion, are directly involved in the destabilization of Ukraine and undermine its territorial integrity.

The new law expands the list of “involved”. Now it includes those who provide financial services, technologies and resources that contribute to destabilization, obstruct international organizations in Ukraine, do business with the Donbass, and also conduct trade activities in Crimea. In addition, the list includes those who support the Kremlin or benefit from it.

Amendments to the law make it possible to impose sanctions against enterprises and persons of strategic and economic importance to Moscow, including heads of state-owned companies. The law includes a number of sectors as strategically important enterprises, including the military, energy, chemical, financial and digital technology sectors.

RBC emphasizes that the new criterion – about “benefiting” – is not directly related to the actions of the Russian Federation in relation to Ukraine. According to him, sanctions can potentially be applied against the Russian company and the head of the enterprise preventively – as an incentive to stop the destabilization of Ukraine.

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss said that her country does not want to impose sanctions against Russia and will do so only in the event of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The day before, she arrived in Moscow on a two-day working visit. It is expected that the main topics of Truss’s talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be Russian proposals on security guarantees and the situation around Ukraine.

Since 2021, statements have been made in Western countries, as well as in Ukraine, about a possible “invasion” of Russia into Ukrainian territory. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is moving troops within its territory and at its own discretion. According to him, it does not threaten anyone. Nevertheless, Russia is threatened with sanctions. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the US government has prepared sanctions lists of representatives of the Russian elites and their families in case of Russian aggression against Ukraine.