Britain sanctioned five Russian banks and three billionaires on Tuesday and Germany halted certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in a first wave of western sanctions against Russia after President Vladimir Putin recognized the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk in east Ukraine and ordered troops to enter the region.
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"Today, the UK is sanctioning the following five Russian banks: Rossiya, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsvyazbank, and the Black Sea Bank, and we're sanctioning three very high net worth individuals," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament.
One of the three individuals is Gennady Timchenko, Putin's close ally.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz said he has commissioned a new assessment into his country's energy security given the Ukraine crisis.
Putin's recognition of the Russian-controlled territories is a grave breach of international law, he said.
Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod praised Berlin for the move.
"It is encouraging, that the German government has decided to halt the approval process of Nord Stream 2. The Danish government has always been opposed to Nord Stream 2. We believe that the EU must become independent of Russian gas – not just for the sake of climate and security of supply, but also for security policy reasons. Russia's aggressive conduct is proof of that."
Similarly, Swedish Prime Minister Magdelena Anderson said, "When it comes to Russian gas, Sweden has for a long time and for a variety of reasons – that it isn't environmentally friendly and there is also a security aspect – seen that there is a concern in relation to the reliance on Russian gas."
Nevertheless, the European Commission – the executive branch for the 27-nation bloc – said, "Nord Stream 2 is not yet functioning, is not supplying energy to Europe. It's not a different source of energy, it's a different pipeline for an existing supplier... There's no change in the current situation."
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