June 26, 2022
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized democracies gathering for a two-day summit in the German Alps on June 26 will announce a ban on new imports of Russian gold to boost sanctions, according to British and U.S. officials.
Wealthy Russians have been purchasing gold bullion recently to ease the sting of international financial punishments put in place since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, the British government said in a statement.
"The measures we have announced today will directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's war machine," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the statement.
London said Russian gold exports totaled more than $15 billion last year.
The ban should be announced on June 27, will come into force quickly, and will apply to newly mined or refined gold, officials said.
U.S. President Joe Biden said via Twitter that the gold ban represents further "unprecedented costs on Putin to deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war against Ukraine."
Biden called gold a "major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia."
The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
G7 leaders will meet beginning on June 26 at a castle in Germany's Alps, with a NATO summit to follow on June 29 in Madrid.
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