G7 to restrict Russian Central Bank’s gold use; Zelenskyy appeals to NATO for more weapons

By Team Newsable | First Published Mar 24, 2022, 7:40 PM IST

Previously, sanctions against Russian elites, the country’s Central Bank and President Vladimir Putin did not impact Russia’s gold stockpile, which Putin has been accumulating for several years.

The G7 leaders say they are restricting the Russian central bank’s use of gold in transactions while the US has announced a new round of sanctions targeting more than 400 elites and members of the Russian State Duma, news agency Associated Press (AP) reported.

Previously, sanctions against Russian elites, the country’s Central Bank and President Vladimir Putin did not impact Russia’s gold stockpile, which Putin has been accumulating for several years. Russia holds roughly $130 billion in gold reserves, and the Bank of Russia announced February 28 that it would resume the purchase of gold on the domestic precious metals market.

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White House officials were quoted saying on Thursday the move will further blunt Russia’s ability to use its international reserves to prop up Russia’s economy and fund its war against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration announced more sanctions targeting 48 state-owned defense companies, 328 members of the Duma, Russia's lower parliament, and dozens of Russian elites. The Duma as an entity was also named in the new sanctions.

The G-7 and the European Union also announced a new effort to share information and coordinate responses to prevent Russia from evading the impact of sanctions that western nations have levied since the Feb 24 invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “military assistance without limitations” as he addressed an emergency NATO summit on Thursday, the first of three urgent meetings US President Joe Biden and world leaders are holding in response to the Russian invasion. Zelenskyy pleaded for anti-air and anti-ship weapons, asking “is it possible to survive in such a war without this?” “It feels like we’re in a grey area, between the West and Russia, defending our common values,” Zelenskyy said in his video address to the summit.

Meanwhile, India, along with 12 other UN Security Council members, abstained on a resolution by Russia on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The draft resolution by Russia was cosponsored by Syria, North Korea and Belarus. It failed to get adopted in the Council on Wednesday as it did not get the required nine yes votes to pass. Russia and China voted in favour of the resolution while there were no countries voting against. India and the remaining Security Council members abstained.

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