Canada Also Announces Economic Sanctions Against Russia

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced economic sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. However, he emphasized that this is only a “first round” of sanctions. Trudeau called Moscow’s recent actions against Ukraine “a further invasion of a sovereign state” and “completely unacceptable”.

“We will prohibit Canadians from buying up Russian sovereign debt. And we will impose additional sanctions on state-backed Russian banks and prevent financial transactions with them,” Trudeau said. He also banned Canadians from making financial transactions with the “so-called independent states of Luhansk and Donetsk”.

Also, Russian MPs who recognize the sovereignty of the two regions in eastern Ukraine are awaiting Canadian economic sanctions.

Earlier Tuesday, the EU and the United States announced sanctions against Russia. The EU countries are punishing, among others, 27 government officials and organizations and making it difficult for the country to access the financial markets. In addition, 351 Russian parliamentarians who pushed for and voted for recognition of the two renegade Ukrainian regions are also affected.

The US sanctions are aimed at two major banks, Russian traders and supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and their families. US banks will also be banned from trading in Russian government bonds in the future in order to cut off the country’s access to Western capital markets.