London, June 26 (Agency) The UK, US, Canada and Japan will be banning imports of Russian gold to attack Moscow’s ability to fun war in Ukraine during the G7 Summit meeting on Sunday, the British government said. PM Boris Johnson said: “The measures we have announced today will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine. “Putin is squandering his dwindling resources on this pointless and barbaric war. He is bankrolling his ego at the expense of both the Ukrainian and Russian people.” We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding. The UK and our allies are doing just that. “According to BBC, gold exports were worth £12.6bn ($15.4bn) to Russia in 2021, and the UK said their importance has increased since the invasion as oligarchs rush to buy bullion to avoid sanctions.
This comes as the G7 leaders meet in Germany.Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has suggested that other G7 countries — Germany, France and Italy — would also be joining the ban. He tweeted: “Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have imposed various sanctions targeting rich individuals, banks, businesses and state-owned enterprises.