Starmer to unveil fresh sanctions on Russian shadow fleet vessels and support for Ukrainian energy
Sir Keir Starmer will announce a new package of sanctions against Russian shadow fleet ships as part of a bid to stifle Vladimir Putin’s war effort, while also boosting Ukraine’s nuclear energy infrastructure with a £210 million export finance package.
Announcing his plans while coming to France for the G7 summit, the prime minister warned that Putin’s “aggression threatens not only the security of Ukraine but the security of all Europe.”
It came after British armed forces intercepted a Russian stay-behind fleet ship in the Channel early Sunday during a six-hour operation, the first operation of its kind led by Britain.
Speaking on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “The UK is taking action, cutting off the revenues that are fueling Putin’s war and powering Ukraine through the coming winters.
“We will stand by Ukraine no matter how long it takes, and this statement reinforces that. Putin must withdraw his tanks, end his barbaric attacks and come to the negotiating table.”
Just last month, the prime minister was accused of buying “dirty Russian oil” after Britain quietly eased sanctions on Moscow, a move critics warned could be a major boost to Vladimir Putin.
The government had previously announced that it would block Russian oil being refined in third countries in order to “further restrict the flow of funds to the Kremlin”.
But after prices rose as a result of the Iran war, Sir Keir changed his tune and said he would allow imports of jet fuel and diesel produced from Russian oil and refined in other countries.
As part of an effort to demonstrate its steadfast support for Ukraine, the UK will provide UK Export Finance of £210 million to power Ukraine’s nuclear power plants over the next two years as part of a package that will see UK-based Urenco supply enriched uranium to Ukraine’s nuclear power producer Energoatom, which supplies more than half of the country’s electricity.
The agreement was reached at a meeting in Downing Street last week between Sir Keir and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The government said the deal also supported jobs and exports in the UK, with more than a third of the uranium content coming from Urenco’s processing plant in North West England.
Urenco employs more than 650 people in the UK and its work at the Chester site supports more than 4,500 jobs in the wider supply chain across the UK.
The funding, supported by UKEF, follows the signing of an earlier two-year agreement to supply nuclear fuel to Ukraine.
The government has said the sanctions package will directly target Russia’s illicit stay-behind fleet and financial networks used to circumvent Western sanctions and support military supplies.
The package will increase the number of shadow fleet and Russian LNG ships sanctioned by the UK to over 600.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said Royal Marine commandos and specially trained law enforcement officers from the NCA boarded a sanctioned oil tanker during a six-hour operation, the first operation of its kind led by the UK.
The Ministry of Defense said the operation was supported by aircraft from the Maritime Air Group (Chinooks, Merlin Mk4 and Wildcat), an RAF P-8 aircraft, HMS Sutherland and HMS Ledbury.
Sir Keir said in March that Britain would join its northern European allies in disrupting Russia’s shadow fleet in a bid to “pursue even harder” ships that breach sanctions.
Sunday’s operation is understood to be the result of months of planning.
