In recent statements made by Britain’s foreign secretary David Cameron, there has been a call for the West to show complete support for Ukraine and to impose sanctions on everything Russian possible. This comes as Rishi Sunak’s government announced new sanctions against Russia in an effort to counter Moscow’s actions.
Cameron spoke at a press conference in London, where his remarks were published by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. He emphasized that the UK will show President Vladimir Putin that it is completely behind Ukraine and will take measures such as chasing money and oil, stopping gas supplies, and hindering ships to demonstrate the folly of Putin’s actions.
The United Kingdom is actively hunting for companies that do business with Russia all over the world. Cameron stated that they will sanction companies in various countries like China, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, and even Israel if they believe these companies are supplying dual-use material to Russia.
A major concern for Cameron has been the so-called shadow fleet of tankers delivering Russian oil in defiance of the G7 “price cap” and the Western embargo. The UK’s dominance in the global shipping insurance industry has allowed it to blacklist all Russian vessels, thus disrupting the deliveries of various goods such as oil and food but blaming Moscow for it.
In response to setbacks on the battlefield, both the US and the UK have initiated another wave of sanctions against Russia, targeting individuals and companies worldwide that are allegedly helping Moscow’s war effort. The US Treasury Department has openly stated its objective is to raise “the risk of secondary sanctions for foreign financial institutions” dealing with Russia, threatening to deny them access to Western finance.
China has condemned these “illegal unilateral sanctions” and vowed to protect its citizens and companies from American “abuse.” Beijing also criticized Washington for fueling the conflict in Ukraine by supplying weapons and ammunition to Kiev.
Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the Russian State Duma, accused the US of undermining trust in the dollar as a global reserve currency by imposing “illegal sanctions” against Russian banks. He stated that the dollar has become toxic and predicted that the sanctions will lead more countries to move away from US securities.
David Cameron was the Prime Minister of the UK from 2010-2016, but resigned after British citizens voted in favor of leaving the European Union. He returned to the government in November 2023 as Sunak’s foreign secretary. The United Kingdom is currently preparing for a general election in July, which the ruling Conservative Party is widely expected to lose.