MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - New Australian sanctions will ban arms exports to Russia, prohibit Russian state-owned banks further access to the Australian capital market and ban oil and gas exports to Russia, Australia’s prime minister announced Monday.
The sanctions are a response to Russia “deliberately and now openly violating Ukrainian sovereignty,” The Guardian quoted Tony Abbott as saying Monday.
Australia will not invest in the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula and will “further target financial sanctions and travel bans against specific individuals,” Abbott said.
Australia’s sanctions will affect 63 Russian and Ukrainian individuals as well as 21 organizations and businesses.
Monday’s sanctions are a response to the European Union’s warning on further sanctions against Russia over Ukraine. Abbott confirmed that Australia’s sanctions were coordinated with the United States, Canada and Europe.
In July the European Union and the United States imposed economic sanctions, targeting Russia’s defense, energy and banking sectors. In August, Russia responded by introducing a one-year ban on food imports from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway.
