Steph Deschamps / March 10, 2022
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The United Kingdom on Wednesday urged all G7 countries to end their use of Russian oil and gas, following the lead of London and Washington, in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Putin must fail, said British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss during a visit to the United States.
In our response, we must redouble our sanctions, she said at a press conference with her American counterpart Antony Blinken.
This includes a total disconnection of Russian banks from the international Swift system. The European Union has already disconnected seven Russian banks from this secure messaging platform that allows key operations, but has taken care at this stage to spare two large financial institutions with strong ties to the hydrocarbon sector, because of the heavy dependence of several European states on Russian gas.
For the same reason, the EU does not want to ban Russian energy imports for the time being, as the United States and the United Kingdom announced on Tuesday. We want to encourage a larger group of countries to join us in these sanctions, Liz Truss said.
Antony Blinken also said he was absolutely convinced that Putin will ultimately fail. Russia will suffer a strategic defeat, regardless of its short-term tactical gains in Ukraine, he said.
Claiming that the sanctions had already erased thirty years of progress of integration of Russia in the rest of the world, he also promised to continue to increase the pressure on the Russian president.
The U.S. Secretary of State also called on the Kremlin to immediately allow Ukrainian civilians to leave safely the cities of Ukraine besieged by Russian forces, accusing Moscow of blocking these departures.
The Kremlin's proposal to create humanitarian corridors leading to Russia or Belarus is absurd. It is offensive to suggest that Ukrainians should seek refuge with the same government that shows such contempt for their lives, Antony Blinken hammered.