These sanctions come as G7 leaders prepare to meet in Italy for a summit whose main priorities will be to strengthen support for Ukraine and curb the Russian war machine.
The Moscow Stock Exchange announced on Wednesday that it would stop exchanging dollars and euros from Thursday June 13.
This announcement came the same day that the United States has introduced a new set of sanctions against Russia.
Wednesday’s package aimed Russia’s financial infrastructure with the aim of limiting the flow of money into and out of that country.
The Moscow Stock Exchange, the National Clearing Center and the National Settlement Depository, which serve as intermediaries for dollar transactions in the Russian foreign exchange market, were included in the new sanctions list.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, however, announced that transactions using the dollar and euro would continue to be carried out on the over-the-counter market.
As an influential Russian business news site The Bell points out, “This is a new step, but not the last, towards the rejection of the convertibility of the ruble and a new blow for importers and exporters” of the country.
The United States has sanctioned more than 4,000 Russian companies and individuals since the start of the war, in an effort to dry up the flow of money and arms to Moscow.
These latest sanctions come as G7 leaders prepare to meet in Italy for a summit whose main priorities will be to strengthen support for Ukraine and curb the Russian war machine.
The leaders of the Group of Seven have already agreed to provide Ukraine with $50 billion through the use of frozen Russian assets by the end of the year, declared the French presidency on Wednesday June 12. “We have an agreement,” a presidential official said.
Additional sources • adaptation: Serge Duchêne