The British press is skeptical, this Wednesday, February 23, as to the effectiveness of the sanctions announced by the Conservative government, out of step with the firm rhetoric displayed so far by Boris Johnson.
“Russia invades Ukraine and the UK responds by sanctioning, uh…, five banks and three oligarchs.” Caustic, as often, the tabloid Daily Star perfectly sums up the mood of the British press on Wednesday 23 February. The government had promised to strike hard. Finally, the sanctions announced the day before by Boris Johnson seem quite insufficient. “Disappointing”, abounds the conservative weekly The Spectator. “Derisory, too late”, adds The Daily Telegraphclose to the Prime Minister. After all, the three Putin-linked oligarchs – Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg – are already blacklisted by the United States.” Like three of the five banking establishments, “who don’t seem to be very active on UK soil anyway”.
Faced with protests from the House of Commons, the tenant of 10 Downing Street assured that“it is regarding[ssait] just a first part” penalties “taken in consultation” with its Western allies, specifies the daily i. Many parliamentarians, including from the ranks of the conservative majority, “regretted that the government did not attack the London laundress more directly”, nickname given to the British capital and the City for “its mechanisms allowing Russian oligarchs to illegally recycle their wealth”.
[…]
S. M.