Sanctions pushing Russian economy back into Soviet era: British foreign secretary

Coordinated sanctions are pushing the Russian economy back into the Soviet era, the British foreign secretary on Tuesday, as she demanded to do more to stop Russian attacks on Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.

"So far our sanctions have had a crippling impact on those who feed and fund [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war machine," Liz Truss told a joint news conference with her Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau on the second day of her visit to the capital Warsaw.

"This week we will announce that we have frozen over $350 billion of Putin’s war chest, making over 60% of the regime’s $604 billion foreign currency reserves unavailable."

"But we can and must step do more," Truss said, adding that she will urge NATO and G7 partners to go further in sanctions by banning Russian ships from ports, cracking down on more Russian banks, and agreeing on a clear timetable to eliminate imports of Russian oil, coal and gas.