The decision over the weekend to ban the purchase of newly mined and refined gold from Russia is the latest effort by the United States, Britain and their allies to dial up the wave of sanctions they have imposed on Russia in response to its four-month-old invasion of Ukraine. The announcement, made as President Biden and other leaders from the Group of 7 nations gathered for meetings this week in Germany, builds on steps already taken to cut Russia off from the international financial system, to deprive it of additional revenues that are helping fund its war in Ukraine and to punish President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and wealthy business executives in his circle. Ukraine’s allies have already prohibited most trade with Russia, frozen hundreds of billions of dollars of assets belonging to the Bank of Russia held in their own financial institutions and blocked Russian banks from using the messaging system that undergirds the system of international payments known as SWIFT.

Source: International New York Times June 27, 2022 14:16 UTC