UK to target ships in Putin's shadow fleet with new sanctions supporting Ukraine

Ships belonging to Russia's so-called shadow fleet are being targeted under a raft of sanctions the UK is introducing to help support Ukraine.

Russia has been using a fleet of ships whose origins have been deliberately kept obscure so they can carry on transporting Russian oil in contravention of existing UK and G7 sanctions.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who met his counterparts from Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States at the G7 summit in Puglia, also announced £242m in bilateral funding for Ukraine.

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The 50 new sanctions also target the suppliers of munitions, machine tools and logistics based in China, Israel, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey that support Russia's military production.

Other sanctions take aim at the Moscow Stock Exchange and other institutions at the heart of Russia's financial system.

Mr Sunak said: "The UK will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in its fight for freedom.

"Today we are once more ramping up economic pressure through sanctions to bear down on Russia's ability to fund its war machine.

"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin must lose, and cutting off his ability to fund a prolonged conflict is absolutely vital."

The £242m heading to Ukraine will boost the country's immediate humanitarian, energy and stabilisation needs and to lay the foundations for longer-term economic and social recovery and reconstruction.

Mr Sunak and the other G7 leaders are also seeking to agree on a mechanism that will allow profits stemming from immobilised Russian sovereign assets to be used to support Ukraine.

A reported £222bn worth of immobilised Russian assets are held in G7 jurisdictions.

During the summit, Mr Sunak is set to press other leaders to recognise migration challenges "across the route" and to take collective action.

US President Joe Biden is set to sign a 10-year security agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a sign of the US's long-term commitment to Ukraine.

The two leaders are set to hold a joint press conference later.

Discussions on the timetable for Ukraine's bid to join Nato and the introduction of foreign military trainers inside Ukraine are likely to be examined.