Despite the rhetoric, it is clear that the United Kingdom has not, in fact, been leading the way on sanctions against Russia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK has fallen behind the United States and European Union in terms of both the speed of the response and the volume of sanctioned individuals and entities. The government has been accused, in particular, of being slow to sanction oligarchs and “members of Putin’s inner circle”. As of 9 March 2022 the UK had, according to Spotlight on Corruption figures, imposed sanctions on 26 Russian individuals, compared with 65 in both the EU and U.S.
UK Russian Sanctions: Is the UK Doing Enough?
