As Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine continues, the Australian Government imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on the Russian President and remaining permanent members of Russia’s Security Council starting midnight last night. 

With Russia committing a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter, Australia and its partners – the US, UK, NATO and EU – are coordinating closely in imposing a high cost on the invading country. 

“We are holding Russian President Vladimir Putin to account for his egregious unjustified war against Ukraine,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in his media statement. 

“President Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov and Defence Minister Shoigu are directly responsible for Russia’s unprovoked and unlawful further invasion of Ukraine. It is exceedingly rare to designate a head of state, and reflects the depth of our concerns.” 

Australia will be working with NATO and other partners to provide lethal and non-lethal military equipment, medical supplies, and financial assistance to support the people of Ukraine.  

Aside from this, Australia will also be contributing US$3 million to NATO’s Trust Fund for Ukraine to support non-lethal military equipment and medical supplies.  

While the details of Australia’s contribution of lethal military equipment are being worked through and will be announced soon, the country will continue to work with allies and like-minded countries to impose further economic sanctions on Russia, building on the raft of travel bans and asset freezes against Russia’s most influential political and military actors.  

So far, Australia has sanctioned more than 350 Russian individuals, including corrupt oligarchs, MPs, and military commanders who are facilitating Putin’s illegal and violent ambitions.  

Moreover, 13 Belarusian individuals and entities, including Belarusian Minister of Defence Viktor Khrenin, who has aided and abetted Putin’s aggression by allowing Russia to launch attacks from Belarus, have also been sanctioned by the Australian Government. 

The Australian Government strongly supports the announcements by the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States on further restrictive economic measures against key Russian banks, institutions and individuals. 

These measures include: 

• removal of selected Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments messaging system 
• restrictive measures to prevent the Russian Central Bank from using its international reserves in a way that undermines sanctions 
• limiting so-called golden passports for wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government 
• a trans-Atlantic task force to identify and freeze the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies that exist within their jurisdictions. 

These measures will impose severe costs on the Russian economy by disconnecting its key banks from the international financial system and disrupting Russian trade and investment flows. 

The measures also paralyse Russia’s foreign reserves and prevent Russian officials and elites from accessing key financial systems. 

While it is expected that the SWIFT measures as announced will be implemented at a global level, the Australian Government will take complementary steps as required. 

“The Australian Government reiterates our staunch support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for the people of Ukraine,” the Prime Minister said. 

Source: Prime Minister of Australia Media Statement 

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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