Ottawa: As Moscow escalated its attack on Ukraine, Canada has imposed sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also called for Russian financial institutions to be barred from the global digital banking network, SWIFT.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made these announcements during the course of a press conference on Friday. “The world is witnessing the horrors of President Putin’s war of choice,” Trudeau said, as Canada’s sanctions targeted the Russian leader and his inner circle, including foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and chief of staff.
Trudeau said, “These men bear the greatest responsibility for the death and destruction occurring in Ukraine.”
Other sanctions, in addition to those announced earlier, were also announced. These include punishing Belarus and its leaders for “abetting President Putin’s invasion”, Trudeau tweeted. These sanctions will target 57 individuals, and are in addition to other existing sanctions already levelled against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
“Canada supports removing Russia from the SWIFT payment system. This is in line with our commitment to impose steep costs on Russia – which would make it even more difficult for President Putin to finance his brutalities,” Trudeau added, joining the United Kingdom in demanding this measure to exclude Russian financial institutions from the global banking system.
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