According to U.S. President Joe Biden, the G-7 leaders will announce a ban on Russian gold imports in retaliation for Moscow’s aggressive invasion of Ukraine. In order to confirm earlier rumors of an impending ban, Biden resorted to Twitter while the leaders gathered in Munich, Germany, for the most recent G-7 conference.
Joe Biden’s tweet on the 25th of June, 2022 reads “The United States has imposed unprecedented costs on Putin to deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war against Ukraine,” he said early Sunday. “Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia.”
The action would be another in a line of economic sanctions the West has taken against Russia since its assault on Ukraine started on February 24. The sanctions, which included restrictions on business with Russian institutions and individuals as well as bans or limits on imports of oil and gas, have been designed to cripple the Russian economy. In fact, the United States, Canada, and their allies in Europe decided to cut off major Russian banks from the SWIFT interbank messaging system in February, thus cutting off the nation from a large portion of the global financial system.
The U.K. government announced on Sunday that it will enforce the ban on Russian gold imports, barring any gold that may have originated in Russia but had already been exported. The embargo would only apply to newly mined and processed gold. According to the most recent data from the World Gold Council, Russia is the second-largest producer of gold in the world, accounting for almost 10% of global production. According to Reuters, Russia’s gold holdings have increased by three times since it illegitimately annexed Crimea in 2104 and the precious metal is a key asset for the country’s central bank, which already faces several challenges.
The restriction would be announced on Tuesday, a senior U.S. administration official reportedly said on Sunday, according to Reuters, and that “the president and other G-7 leaders will continue to try to hold Putin accountable.”
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