G. Skaistė: “Sanctions Against Russia and Belarus Should be Expanded“
Today, Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė is attending an extraordinary ECOFIN videoconference to discuss the situation in the Ukraine, to assess the effectiveness and impact of sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus and to consider next steps. At the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Economy and Finance Minister G. Skaistė noted that in demonstrating support for the Ukraine, Europe and Western partners should further expand sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
“Over the past few days, the European Union, in coordination with Western partners, has adopted four packages of financial and economic sanctions against Russia. This is a clear and strong signal of our mobilisation and support for the Ukraine. Sanctions will have a significant negative impact on the stability of the Russian financial sector and economy — we are already seeing the first signs of that. Although much has been done, we must continue to expand the scope of sanctions for both Russia and Belarus in order to reduce to a minimum the aggressors’ ability to finance military actions”, stated Ms G. Skaistė.
According to Minister of Finance G. Skaistė, disconnection of part of the Russian banks from the international payment system SWIFT is an important first step, however to achieve the systemic effect, it is necessary to expand the list of sanctioned Russian banks putting on the list all major banks in the country, also including the Belarusian financial institutions.
Moreover, we need to be united and to show that there is no place for aggressors in the international community. Lithuania takes the view that Russia’s and Belarus’ membership of international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, must be suspended indefinitely, thus preventing access to financial resources of these institutions.
According to G. Skaistė, although financial sanctions are effective, they are not yet sufficient. The EU, together with Western partners, needs to prepare sectoral economic sanctions covering Russia’s key economic sectors, including exports of raw materials and energy.
The Minister also stressed that the international community must support the Ukraine in every way possible − both in mobilising financial assistance and in supplying the country with military equipment and humanitarian aid. In this regard, international financial institutions and development banks, currently preparing a significant package of financial assistance to the Ukraine, play an important role.
Last updated: 03-03-2022
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