Ukraine-News: New sanctions against Russian gold reserves - the West is increasing the pressure on Putin
Created: 03/25/2022Updated: 03/25/2022 10:26 am
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
Any transaction involving gold related to the Russian central bank is to be subject to sanctions.
(Iconic image) © Sergei Fadeichev/Imago Images
The Ukraine war began four weeks ago.
The West now wants to put pressure on President Vladimir Putin with further sanctions - and make it more difficult for Russia to trade in its large hoard of gold.
Brussels - The western states want to show Russia the borders because of the war in Ukraine with further military and economic measures.
At a special summit in Brussels on Thursday, the NATO members not only agreed on a massive rearmament.
The seven leading democratic economic powers (G7) and the EU also agreed on new sanctions intended to make gold transactions significantly more difficult for Russia.
Ukraine-News: New sanctions to restrict Russia's trade in gold
Any transaction involving gold related to the Russian central bank will be subject to sanctions, a senior US official announced on Thursday.
In the Ukraine conflict*, the leading democratic economic powers (G7) and the European Union want to prevent the Russian central bank from using international reserves - including gold - to support the Russian economy.
It would not be allowed to circumvent sanctions, it said.
"We understand that Russia is still trying to use its gold reserves to prop up the ruble - that is, sell its gold to buy rubles," the US official said.
Russia has a significant amount of gold, estimated to be worth between $100 billion and $240 billion.
That is about 20 percent of the total reserves that Russia had before invading Ukraine.
"We want to deprive Russia of the ability to use its gold to support its currency."
Russia wanted to protect itself against sanctions with gold treasure
The investment of a large gold hoard of about 2,300 tons was Russia's preparation for Western sanctions.
The gold reserves stored in the Russian central bank are protected from access by NATO countries.
However, they are now also proving to be quite worthless.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for the Russian central bank to use gold to support the ruble or even to sell gold.
The US, EU and other Western partners have already imposed very tough sanctions on Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, in coordination with the EU and other allies.
In mid-March, they agreed to withdraw trade concessions from the Russian Federation, paving the way for higher tariffs on Russian goods, for example.
Sanctions were also imposed on the largest banks and the Russian central bank.
The US issued a ban on oil imports from Russia.
In addition, many companies are cutting their business with Russia of their own accord.
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