UK to keep sanctions on Russia until compensation is paid to Ukraine

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Britain on Monday said that it will keep sanctions on Russia until Moscow pays compensation to Kyiv.

According to a statement by Foreign Office, new legislation will “allow sanctioned individuals to donate frozen funds to Ukrainian reconstruction."

"It comes as the UK prepares to legislate to require those holding assets in the UK on behalf of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), Russian Ministry of Finance (MOF) or Russian National Wealth Fund (NWF) to disclose them to the Treasury," it added.

These new measures mark a "major strengthening" in the UK’s sanctions approach against Russia, said the Foreign Office, mentioning that this move came as the UK hosts major Ukraine Recovery Conference on June 21-22.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: "Through our new measures today, we’re strengthening the UK’s sanctions approach, affirming that the UK is prepared to use sanctions to ensure Russia pays to repair the country it has so recklessly attacked."

"We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to recover from Russia’s war of aggression and lay the groundwork for a prosperous nation," he added.

Jeremy Hunt, the Treasury chief, also said that Russia "must take financial responsibility," adding with this legislation, the UK is able to clear new paths to ensure "Russian money reaches Ukrainian people."

Since the war began in February last year, Britain has been providing economic, humanitarian, and defensive military assistance to Kyiv while imposing a wide range of sanctions on Russia.

So far, the UK has frozen more than £18 billion ($23 billion) in assets and sanctioned more than 1,550 Russian individuals.

In May, the Kyiv School of Economics said that the total amount of damages caused to Ukraine’s infrastructure due to the war is $147.5 billion.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, has killed over 8,900 civilians and wounded more than 15,400, according to the latest UN figures.