EU freezes Putin’s assets in response to Ukraine invasion

The European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) have frozen the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in response to the invasion of Ukraine, adding the two names to the EU sanctions list.

According to the details, EU officials on Friday announced to freeze the assets of Russia’s President making him the third world leader to be personally sanctioned by the EU, following Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“Russia needs to see that it is going to be isolated from the international community,” said Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, on Friday evening. The measure means that EU-based banks will be prohibited from making funds available to them, although this will depend on the degree of cooperation from the financial entities.

“Let me flag that the only leaders in the world that are sanctioned by the European Union are Assad from Syria, Lukashenko from Belarus and now Putin from Russia,” Borrell added.

The 27-member bloc has engaged in intensive discussions to ratchet up the pressure after Russia launched a full-scale invasion and is close to an agreement that would mirror US restrictions on the largest Russian banks and other state-owned companies.

The UK has also coordinated with the EU, US and other G7 countries on sanctions regimes, but has been criticized for failing to crack down on Russian oligarchs who own property in London.

It is pertinent to mention here that the EU sanctions hammer Russia’s financial, energy and transport sectors, curb the ability of Russians to keep large amounts of cash in European Union banks, and greatly expand the number of Russians on the EU’s list of individuals barred from entering the bloc’s 27 countries and freezing any European Union assets.

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