G7 to ban Russian gold imports, choking key market for Putin

The United States said yesterday that the G7 group of nations will ban imports of Russian gold with the aim of tightening sanctions screws on Moscow and crippling its war effort in Ukraine.

"Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia," President Joe Biden said on Twitter.

The measure was initially flagged by Britain as joint action being taken along with fellow G7 members Canada, Japan and the United States.

However, the rest of the G7, which is holding a summit in Germany, will also join in with a formal unveiling of the sanction tomorrow, a senior U.S. official said.

"You'll see that on Tuesday. This will be a G7 principal that is articulated," said the official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

With its economy already under huge pressure from Western sanctions against banks, energy companies, airlines, high-tech and consumer goods, the choking off of the gold market will have a significant impact, according to G7 officials.

Given London's central role in the international gold trade, "this measure will have global reach, shutting the commodity out of formal international markets," Britain said.

"Gold, after energy, is the second largest export for Russia and a source of significant revenue for [President Vladimir] Putin and Russia," the U.S. official said, adding that the blocking of Moscow's gold sector "will further isolate Russia from the global economy."

According to the White House, Russia accounted for about 5 percent of all gold exports in 2020 and 90 percent of Russia's output went to G7 countries, mostly to Britain.

The attempt to clamp down on Russian gold is likely to be...