Some of Ukraine’s key partners, including the United States, are considering imposing a ban on most exports to Russia to put new pressure on Vladimir Putin’s ability to wage his war of aggression in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.

G7 officials (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States) are discussing the idea ahead of a leaders’ summit in Japan in May, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation, who say the aim is to include European Union member states in the plan. of the Union

According to Bloomberg sources, the proposal is still under debate and could change. But the approach currently being discussed would completely repeal the current sanctions regime against Russia, banning all exports to Russia, except those that are granted exemptions.

Current criteria allow exports to Russia, except for those under sanctions.

If an agreement is reached, the most likely exports to be exempted from sanctions would be medicine, food and agricultural products, one of the sources said.

But there are serious obstacles on the way to the implementation of this plan, the biggest of which is obtaining the consent of the European Union.

Western sanctions almost halved exports to Russia

To take effect in the EU, the new criteria must be adopted by all member states, which is likely to cause strong resentment in some countries, pressure from companies that still have important economic ties to Moscow and concerns about the Kremlin’s reaction.

If a quasi-total embargo is imposed on exports to Putin’s country, most trade flows between participating countries and Russia will disappear.

The sanctions have so far almost halved the value of EU and G7 exports to Russia, targeting a wide range of goods from electronics to luxury goods. But Russia still receives $66 billion worth of goods from Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan.

Earlier in April, the G7 countries announced new economic sanctions against Russia, including a ban on all new investment in key sectors, in response to “continued escalation of the war”.

“We are banning new investments in key sectors of the Russian economy, including the energy sector,” the G7 states said in a press release issued on April 7, also announcing “additional sanctions against Russia’s defense sector” and against “elites and their relatives”. who support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

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