Patricia Kowsmann
WSJ, Apr. 8, 2022
“Europe’s key weakness is a lack of geopolitical or risk perspective on energy policy, at national or at EU level.”
Waves of Western sanctions targeting Russian banks are hampering the country’s ability to conduct business, but efforts continue to be constrained by Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas.
The campaign to isolate Russia financially over the war in Ukraine has blacklisted most of Russia’s largest banks and taken aim at oligarchs. It also has targeted President Vladimir Putin’s daughters, with the U.K. on Friday saying it would join the U.S. and European Union by freezing any assets they have in the country and subjecting them to travel bans.
The EU on Friday also blacklisted four banks already banned from the Swift global payments system, including Russia’s second-largest bank, VTB.VTB has already been sanctioned in the U.S. and the U.K.
Max Colchester and Laurence Norman contributed to this article.
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