Our sanctions are working

Want to find out how? Read on????

What are sanctions??

Sanctions are restrictive measures. They can be imposed on governments, entities or individuals, taking the form of asset freezes, travel bans, trade and arms embargos, broadcasting bans and more.?

Why are sanctions imposed??

Sanctions are most often imposed to deter and denounce actions that undermine international norms, such as human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation, corruption or cyber-attacks.

For example, today we've sanctioned 46 human rights abusers and accessories to authoritarian governments around the world. Yesterday, we sanctioned Russian cyber operatives who have tried to interfere in politics and democratic processes in the UK and around the world.

Who has the UK sanctioned?

The UK has imposed sanctions on a wide range of state actors, non-state organisations and individuals around the world with a view to ending illegal and unacceptable activity.?

For example, we have taken strong action against Russia since its illegal invasion of Ukraine. The UK has sanctioned over 1,800 individuals and entities under the Russia sanctions regime, over 1,600 of which were sanctioned since Putin’s full-scale invasion.?

This includes 29 banks accounting for over 90% of the Russian banking sector and 129 oligarchs who had a combined net worth of around ￡145 billion at the time of the invasion.?Over ￡20 billion of UK-Russia bilateral trade is now under full or partial sanction.

Just this week, we imposed a new sanctions package on military suppliers propping up Russia's war machine.

What impact do UK sanctions have?

Our sanctions have a proven track-record of success. Those?against Russia are dealing a severe blow to Putin’s regime, which has lost out on?$400 billion it would have otherwise had access to.

Sanctions are also starving Russia’s military of key Western components and technology. This is crucial, as it restricts Russia’s ability to fight a 21st century war and helps give Ukraine the upper hand on the battlefield.?

The impact of sanctions can also be seen by the fact that those targeted are spending their time and resources launching legal challenges in an attempt to overturn sanctions levied against them. Our sanctions regime is fair and robust. Our early legal successes have established important legal precedents which demonstrates the strength of UK sanctions and the robustness of the court system.??

The effect of sanctions is not immediate, and they can’t by themselves achieve all the UK’s foreign policy objectives. Our diplomatic work maintaining international support for Ukraine, as well as the direct help we are providing to Ukrainians defending their homeland, are also important ways of applying pressure on Russia.?

Sanctions have an impact. We will continue to use them to crack down on harmful activity, uphold international law and defend the UK’s interests.