A new round of sanctions against Russia and one of its international allies has been announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In addition to some targeted sanctions against 57 individuals, Trudeau is appealing to have Russia removed from the SWIFT banking system.
“Excluding Russian banks from SWIFT will make it even more difficult for Vladimir Putin to finance more of his brutalities,” said Trudeau.
The removal of SWIFT from Russian banks wouldn’t make it impossible for them to conduct transactions but it would be a lot more difficult and costly.
Trudeau also announced sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff as well as Belarus’ leaders for abetting the invasion.
“This is a brutal, needless attack on a sovereign, democratic country,” Trudeau said. “It is an atrocity for Ukraine’s 40 million innocent citizens and for the world.”
The personal sanctions against Putin and his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov comes on the heels of an invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.
“These men,” said Trudeau, referring to Putin and Lavrov, “bear the greatest responsibility for the death and destruction occurring in Ukraine.”
