According to Splash 24/7, the government of Australia has imposed targeted sanctions on 60 vessels linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet used to circumvent restrictions on oil and gas exports.
Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, said that the sanctions reinforce the country’s “consistent commitment to ensuring Russia and those enabling its illegal invasion of Ukraine face consequences”: “Australia has imposed over 1,400 sanctions in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We will continue to take coordinated and decisive action to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and disrupt Russia’s ability to fund its aggression.”
She also called on Russia to “immediately end this war and withdraw from Ukrainian territory”. “The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) is particularly grateful to minister Wong and her team for leading the charge on this initiative. These sanctions send a strong and necessary signal that Australia will not be complicit in funding Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine,” the organisation said.
The AFUO also urged the Australian government to fully close this sanctions loophole by banning the import of all petroleum products refined from Russian crude oil.
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