We, the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, condemn Putin’s war of choice and the attacks on the nation and the sovereign people of Ukraine. We support the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist the Russian invasion. Russia’s war represents an attack on the basic international rules and norms that have prevailed since World War II, which we are committed to defending. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.
Last week, alongside our diplomatic efforts and our collective work to defend our own borders and to assist the government and people of Ukraine in their struggle, we, along with our other allies and partners around the world, imposed tough measures to major institutions and banks, and to the architects of this war, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As Russian forces launch their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are determined to continue to impose costs on Russia that will further insulate it from the international financial system and our economies. We will be implementing these measures in the coming days.
Specifically, we are committed to taking the following actions:
First, we are committed to ensuring that certain Russian banks are removed from the SWIFT messaging system. This will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and will harm their ability to operate globally.
Second, we commit to imposing restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in a way that would undermine the impact of our sanctions.
Third, we pledge to take action against individuals and entities who facilitate the war in Ukraine and the harmful activities of the Russian government. Specifically, we commit to taking action to limit the sale of citizenship – the so-called golden passports – that allow wealthy Russians linked to the Russian government to become citizens of our countries and access our financial systems.
Fourth, we commit to launching a transatlantic task force next week that will ensure the effective implementation of our financial sanctions by identifying and freezing the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies that exist in our jurisdictions. As part of this effort, we commit to applying sanctions and other financial and coercive measures to other Russian officials and elites close to the Russian government, as well as their families and enablers to identify and freeze the assets they hold in our jurisdictions. . We will also engage other governments and work to detect and disrupt the movement of ill-gotten gains, and to prevent these individuals from hiding their assets in jurisdictions around the world.
Finally, we will strengthen our coordination against disinformation and other forms of hybrid warfare.
We stand with the Ukrainian people in this dark hour. Even beyond the measures we are announcing today, we stand ready to take further action to hold Russia to account for its attack on Ukraine.
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