The United States and its European allies have prepared "the most aggressive package of economic and financial sanctions" that should hit Russian President Vladimir Putin personally if he approves the invasion of Ukraine, writes the Financial Times.

The article also identifies four main areas of sanctions pressure.

First, the West plans to impose sanctions against the so-called Russian oligarchs, who, according to the FT, keep an impressive part of their assets in Western countries.

“Given how many Russian oligarchs have assets and other financial interests in the UK, support from London is critical to US sanctions pressure efforts,” the newspaper writes.

In addition, the US and the EU also want to strike "at the very heart of the Russian banking system" and "cut" Moscow out of the international financial system, writes FT.

“The United States and its allies are discussing the issue of disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT international payment network, which will further complicate the interaction of Russian banks with the West,” the material says.

Western countries are also considering imposing strict export controls on technology to "cause as much damage as possible to Russia's industrial base."

In conclusion, the FT points out that the biggest blow to Russia will be in the energy sector, since Moscow is to some extent dependent on the export of energy sources, while the share of Russian gas in the EU is about 40%. In the event of a war with Ukraine, all communications may be interrupted.

“The US and the EU have decided that if Russia decides to invade Ukraine, they will prevent the commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This will be a serious blow to Moscow and could lead to serious economic consequences in Germany,” the note says.

Earlier it became known that from February 1, Gazprom began to increase gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine.

bbabo.Net