British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain was imposing sanctions on Russian banks and individuals that "the British government had prepared".
The sanctions came after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that Moscow recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics from Ukraine.
"Today, the UK sanctioned the following five Russian banks: Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank and Black Sea Bank, and we sanctioned three individuals with very high net worth," Johnson told parliament. Sputnik on Tuesday (22/2/2022).
According to him, the Russians, including Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg, and Igor Rotenberg, will have their assets frozen in the UK, and will also be banned from traveling to the UK.
He also said the time had come to prepare for the possible next stage of Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans for Ukraine following Moscow's recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
"We must now prepare ourselves for the possible next stage of Putin's plan. "The violent subversion of eastern Ukraine by Russian operatives and their subordinates, followed by a general assault by nearly 200,000 Russian troops gathered at the border in peak readiness to strike," Johnson said.
The British Prime Minister previously promised that, “British sanctions will hit Russia very hard.”
"It is imperative that we hold back on further strong sanctions given what President (Vladimir) Putin may do next," he said.
"We want to stop Russian companies raising funds in pounds or even dollars. We want them to stop raising funds in the UK market and we want to remove the veil that hides property ownership in this country," he said.
