Australia will immediately introduce sanctions, including travel bans, on Russian individuals as Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelled Russia\u2019s move on eastern Ukraine an \u201cinvasion\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe invasion of Ukraine has effectively already begun,\u201d Mr Morrison said at a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced Australia will follow the United States and United Kingdom and impose sanctions on Russia.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Agencies\/Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cAustralia has always stood up to bullies, and we will be standing up to Russia. It\u2019s unwarranted. It\u2019s unprovoked, it\u2019s unacceptable.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia is at peak readiness to now complete a full scale invasion of Ukraine. And that is likely to occur within the next 24 hours and there are even reports already showing… things of that nature, which could indicate that it has already begun.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier, President Joe Biden said the US was imposing \u201cfull blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions\u201d, VEB and Promsvyazbank, which have links to Russia\u2019s military industry.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s actions, taken in coordination with our partners and allies, begin the process of dismantling the Kremlin\u2019s financial network and its ability to fund destabilising activity in Ukraine and around the world,\u201d Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the statement.<\/p>\n The US is slapping comprehensive sanctions on Russia\u2019s sovereign debt.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means we\u2019ve cut off Russia\u2019s government from Western financing,\u201d Mr Biden said. \u201cIt can no longer raise money from the West and can not trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.\u201d<\/p>\n The US will also \u201cimpose sanctions on Russia\u2019s elites and their family members. They share in the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies and should share in the pain as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The President also flagged US efforts with \u201cGermany to ensure that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not … move forward\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr Morrison announced Australia would begin imposing sanctions \u2013 including travel bans and financial bans – on both Russian individuals and entities to punish them for the \u201cinvasion\u201d of Ukraine.<\/p>\n This would include using the recent Magnitsky laws which target individuals for human rights abuses, in a significant expansion of the existing sanctions Australia already has on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea.<\/p>\n Australia will also follow the US in placing financial sanctions on the breakaway Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.<\/p>\n Mr Morrison said the sanctions were just a first tranche, and it would continue talking with allies such as the US, Britain and European nations on further tranches of sanctions.<\/p>\n Foreign Minister Marise Payne urged all Australians to immediately leave Ukraine.<\/p>\n There are 184 Australians registered as being in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been very, very clear that all Australians should leave Ukraine immediately. We\u2019ve been saying that for a number of weeks now. Every Australian in Ukraine should leave for their own safety and security,\u201d Senator Payne told ABC radio on Wednesday morning.<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t agree there is no stopping a comprehensive invasion. Russia still has, always has, the option not to proceed.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in World<\/h2>\n
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