LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is calling on the world to stop Russia from using its gold reserves, ahead of a NATO summit on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We have to do more and therefore we have to do more economically,” Johnson tells LBC radio a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his devastating invasion of Ukraine.
“Can we do more to prevent you from using your gold reserves, for example, in addition to your cash reserves? What can we do more to sanction SWIFT?” he says, referring to the international system of bank transfers.
Johnson says that in addition to increasing military support for Ukraine, “we have to go further” economically.
“My message today at NATO will be that there are ways the world can continue to intensify the pressure on Putin,” he says.
“The more we do that now, the more pressure we put on now, particularly on things like gold… I think the more we can shorten the war, shorten the killing in Ukraine,” he adds.
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