Tag: International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis

Theresa May’s package of diplomatic and economic measures against Russia is measured, focused but unlikely to put additional economic pressure on either Russia or Vladimir Putin’s entourage, British defence and diplomatic analysts have said. Jonathan Eyal, an associate director at the military thinktank Rusi, said he had expected a stronger reaction. “There may be an element of seeing whether anything can be saved from the relationship. The decision to allow Russia’s ambassador, Alexander Yakovenko, to remain reflects the fact that if he was expelled Russia could simply apply to replace him. All embassies are a mix of commercial, political and military attaches, but it is surprising that the UK believes that as many as 40% of Russian embassy staff were involved in intelligence. The measures underline the power to freeze assets and impose visa bans. Chalmers argued that unexplained wealth orders, a new tool that came into force this year and has been used only twice, on non-Russian citizens, may be more productive in helping the National Crime Agency to lift the lid on money laundering and organised crime. Media freedom Ofcom, the media regulator, acting independently of the government, has already announced that it will investigate whether the Russian broadcaster RT’s licence should be revoked on public-interest grounds. The Foreign Office is running a global campaign promoting press freedom, and a state-engineered shutdown of Russian media outlets in the UK would leave ministers open to charges of hypocrisy by countries such as Turkey. Chemical weapons Russian ministers insist that Russia destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles last year, and have said the Soviet-designed nerve agent novichok, which Britain said was used to poison the former spy Sergei Skripal, was not part of an international ban on chemical weapons.