Miliband pairs sanctions with $71.4 million in Ukraine winter aid
Britain announced 38 new sanctions targeting Russian oil companies, shadow-fleet tankers and entities London says supply the Kremlin with goods used in advanced weapons systems, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said Thursday. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband unveiled the measures during a visit to Kyiv that included meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The package designates two Russian oil companies, 12 oil tankers, three crypto exchanges, two payment platforms and 17 entities and individuals supplying Russia with what Britain, the European Union and the United States have classified as Common High-Priority goods — components used in advanced weapons systems. “The message is simple: If you help Russia fund or equip this war, you will face the consequences,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
The designations lift the number of sanctioned shadow-fleet vessels to more than 600 and push Britain’s total Russia-related designations above 3,500, according to Miliband’s office. The new measures extend London’s oil-sector coverage to more than 90 percent of Russia’s total oil-producing capacity, the office said.
Britain framed the action as both cutting revenue and closing evasion routes. “By sanctioning these companies, we’re not only stemming the flow of Russian oil money, but cutting off the routes used to circumvent our sanctions regime by making it harder for major Russian oil companies to rebadge their oil under the name of an unsanctioned entity,” the Foreign Office said.
Russia’s embassy in London rejected the measures as “illegal” and accused the British government of having “reached a dead end with its sanctions policy.” “Each new list is intended to demonstrate the U.K. authorities’ resolve, but in reality it highlights that the course they have chosen is ineffective and pointless,” the embassy said in a statement. “Russia will not change its course: protecting national interests and ensuring sustainable development remain its unconditional priorities. Attempts to speak to us in the language of sanctions and threats are doomed to fail.”
Alongside the sanctions, Miliband announced $71.4 million in what the Foreign Office described as “winter resilience funding” for Ukraine — energy and humanitarian support for civilians during a winter that the Foreign Office said Russian President Vladimir Putin has attempted to weaponize amid the nearly five-year-old war. The package includes $26.4 million for energy-security teams making emergency repairs to Ukraine’s grid following Russian strikes, and $45 million to protect heating and water for Ukrainian families during the winter. Since the start of the war on Feb. 24, 2022, Britain has provided more than $1.3 billion in humanitarian and energy support, according to the Foreign Office.