Germany says West imposing sanctions on Russia to put pressure & pave way for diplomacy

The West sanctions have been imposed to put pressure on Russia and to pave the path for a diplomatic settlement to the ongoing war between Moscow and Kyiv, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while adding that it is vital to continue implementing all the various measures that have been launched against Russia. "It is important that we do not give up, but to continuously continue implementing all the various measures that we have launched,” he said on Thursday as per Sputnik. 

Scholz added, “On the one hand, with the sanctions that we are implementing in order to apply pressure, and on the other hand, we open space for diplomacy.” 

These remarks came after the German Chancellor demanded Russian President Vladimir Putin end all military operations in Ukraine and remove Russian troops. As per CNN, Scholz asked Putin to "immediately stop all combat operations, withdraw all Russian troops, and return to dialogue," further stressing that it is the time to stop the carnage. He also claimed that Russian President Putin has offended the Ukrainian citizens.  

Assesing the impact of war, Scholz added that these are going to be challenging times and that the pictures of several dead and wounded individuals, as well as destroyed buildings and infrastructure, are only the commencement of what is to come. 

West imposes sanctions on Russia

After Russian President Vladimir Putin announced independence of the two separatist regions of Ukraine, United States President Joe Biden imposed sanctions against Russia. Biden said that absolute sanctions on Russia's national debt, as well as entire blocking penalties on two significant Russian financial organisations have been applied, according to Biden.

Meanwhile, Russia has also been sanctioned by Canada, Australia, and Japan. Canadians are prohibited from conducting business with the separatist republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, according to the Canadian government. Further, Canadians would also be unable to buy Russian government bonds or transact with two Russian banks that are backed by the Russian government. 

Australia's Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has also placed sanctions on eight Russian businesses. According to Morrison, the measures would include travel bans. In addition, Sberbank, one of Russia's and Europe's major banks, has been added to the list of companies sanctioned by the United Kingdom. This follows after the UK government stated that all Russian banks' UK assets would be frozen, and instructed British ports to return Russian ships. 

(Image: AP)