The United States and Britain unveiled more sanctions on Russia after its forces invaded Ukraine, while the EU convened an emergency summit to discuss new restrictions.
Here are details of the curbs proposed so far:
US president Joe Biden (file). Photo: AFP / 2022 Getty Images
Banks and financial firms
The United States and Britain announced restrictions that, combined with previous sanctions, would effectively kick the vast majority of Russian banking assets out of both countries. New targets included Sberbank and VTB Bank, Russia's two largest lenders.
The European Union has agreed to target banks involved in financing separatist activities in eastern Ukraine.
Russia's large banks are deeply integrated into the global financial system, meaning sanctions could be felt far beyond its borders. Data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) shows European lenders hold the lion's share of the nearly $30 billion in foreign banks' exposure to Russia.
According to data from Russia's central bank, total Russian banking foreign assets and liabilities stood at $200.6 billion and $134.5 billion, respectively, with the U.S. dollar share amounting to around 53 percent of both, down from 76-81 percent two decades ago.
Read more about the Russia-Ukraine crisis:
- Follow all the latest developments with RNZ's live blog
- Timeline of Ukraine's turbulent history since independence in 1991
- How Ukraine's armed forces shape up against Russia's
- 'Decades of peace in region undermined' - PM on Russia's Ukraine invasion
- Ukrainians start arriving in central Europe: 'I don't know what to do'
Sovereign debt and capital markets
The coming package of measures from the EU will "target the ability of the Russian state and government to access the EU's capital and financial markets and services," the bloc said.
It will ban EU investors from trading in Russian state bonds.
Washington announced additional restrictions on dealings in Russia sovereign debt on Tuesday. Americans, who were already barred from investing in Russian sovereign debt directly, will be banned from purchasing it in the secondary market after 1 March. On Thursday, the US Treasury expanded Russia-related debt and equity restrictions to 13 Russian entities, including state owned enterprises and other financial firms.
Britain had previously banned Russia from raising funds in the UK, Europe's major capital markets hub, and on Thursday said it would prevent Russian companies from borrowing on the UK markets.
Even before the latest events, access to Russian bonds had become increasingly restricted.
US sanctions imposed in 2015 made future Russian dollar debt ineligible for many investors and key indexes. In April 2021, President Joe Biden barred US investors from buying new Russian rouble bonds over accusations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election.
The curbs have cut Russia's external debt by 33 percent since early 2014, from $733 billion to $489 billion in the third quarter of 2021. Lower debt improves a country's balance sheet on the surface, but deprives it of financing sources that could contribute to economic growth and development.
Sberbank (pictured, and VTB Bank, Russia's two largest lenders, are among banks targeted in restructions that would effectively kick the vast majority of Russian banking assets out of both countries.. Photo: AFP
Individuals
The United States, the EU and Britain have already imposed asset freezes, travel bans and other curbs on a number of Russian individuals.
The EU on Monday imposed sanctions on five people who were involved in a Russian parliamentary election in annexed Crimea in September 2021.
On Tuesday, the bloc said it would blacklist all lawmakers in the lower house of the Russian parliament who voted in favour of recognition of Ukraine's breakaway regions, freeze any assets they have in the EU and ban them from travelling to the bloc.
Meanwhile, Britain has imposed sanctions on three men, Gennady Timchenko and billionaires Igor and Boris Rotenberg. The three are allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin whose personal fortunes grew following Putin's rise to the presidency. All three are already sanctioned by the United States.
On Thursday, Britain sanctioned five more individuals, including Kirill Shamalov, who was previously married to Putin's daughter, Petr Fradkov, head of the recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank, and Denis Bortnikov, deputy president of VTB.
The United States sanctioned Fradkov and Bortnikov on Tuesday, as well as Vladimir Kiriyenko, the son of former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko.
On Thursday, Washington targeted others close to Putin, including Sergei Sergeevich Ivanov, CEO of Russian state-owned diamond mining company Alrosa; Andrey Patrushev, who has served in leadership roles at Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom; and Ivan Igorevich Sechin, reportedly a deputy head of a department at energy company Rosneft.
Biden again said on Thursday he would consider personal sanctions on Putin, a move Moscow has said would not harm him personally but would prove "politically destructive".
Energy companies and Nord Stream 2
The United States and the EU already have sanctions in place on Russia's energy and defence sectors, with Gazprom among others facing various curbs on exports/imports and debt-raising.
Sanctions could be widened and deepened, with one possible option being to prevent companies settling in US dollars.
Nord Stream 2, a recently completed gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, was awaiting regulatory approval by EU and German authorities before Berlin put its certification on ice.
The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on the company in charge of building Nord Stream 2.
Curbing technology
The EU has vowed to introduce measures to crimp Russia's technological position in key areas - from high-tech components to cutting-edge software.
The US Commerce Department on Thursday said it was implementing export controls that will severely restrict Russia's access to semiconductors, computers, telecommunications, information security equipment, lasers, and sensors that it needs to sustain its military capabilities.
Similar measures were deployed during the Cold War, when sanctions limited the Soviet Union technologically and crimped economic growth.
Switching off SWIFT
One of the most harsh potential measures would be to disconnect the Russian financial system from international payments system SWIFT, used by more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries.
Ukraine has asked Russia be removed from the system and the move is under discussion as the European Union considers sanctions. But leaders were at odds on whether to use that option.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for Russia's exclusion from SWIFT, but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it should not be part of the second EU sanctions package against Russia. Biden said on Thursday that the latest US sanctions were tough and that Washington was not imposing a ban for now.
New Zealand
New Zealand imposed targeted travel bans on Russia and prohibited goods trade to its military and security forces as it joined Western allies in imposing sanctions after Moscow's military invaded Ukraine.
"The world is speaking and sending a very clear message to Russia that what they have done is wrong and they will face the condemnation of the world," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
More sanctions may follow as the conflict escalates, Ardern said.
- Reuters
