Ministerial Joint Statement on the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force

Ministerial Joint Statement on the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force by the European Commission, the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom

We, the undersigned Finance, Justice, Home Affairs, and Trade Ministers and European Commissioners, jointly commit to prioritizing our resources and working together to take all available legal steps to find, restrain, freeze, seize, and, where appropriate, confiscate or forfeit the assets of those individuals and entities that have been sanctioned in connection with Russia’s premeditated, unjust, and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the continuing aggression of the Russian regime.

Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine represents a further assault on the fundamental norms and laws, including the UN charter, that underpin the international order.  By working together to hunt down the assets of key Russian elites and proxies and to act against their enablers and facilitators, we take a further step to isolate them from the international financial system and impose consequences for their actions, and we encourage other countries to also take up this critical effort.

The Task Force that we have launched today demonstrates our unwavering support for Ukraine and our collective resolve and joint commitment to holding accountable those who have complicity in Russia’s unjust war. We are determined to deny them the ability to hide and benefit from their assets in all jurisdictions and to undermine the integrity of the international financial system.

More information: European Commission – Press release

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The Honorable Janet L. Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, United States

The Honorable Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, United States

The Honorable Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Trade Tourism and Investment, Australia

The Honorable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Canada

Bruno Le Maire, Minister for Economy, Finance and Recovery, France

Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justice, France

The Honorable Christian Lindner, Federal Minister of Finance, Germany

The Honorable Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany

Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia, Italy

Minister of Economy and Finance Daniele Franco, Italy

The Honorable NINOYU Satoshi, Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission, Japan

The Honorable FURUKAWA Yoshihisa, Minister of Justice, Japan

The Honorable SUZUKI Shunichi, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services, Japan

The Right Honorable Priti Patel MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department, United Kingdom

The Right Honorable Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom

Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice

Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union