"A historic step": Canada prohibits Russian Central Bank transactions

Canadian financial institutions are now barred from making any transactions with the Russian Central Bank.

In addition, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland announced that Canada is imposing an asset freeze and a dealing prohibition on Russian sovereign wealth funds.

“Canada and its allies continue to take concerted action to ensure that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be a strategic failure,” said Freeland in a statement on Monday. “This has never been done before at this scale — today, we are taking a historic step by directly censuring Russia’s central bank.”

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This comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s joint statement with the EU, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States on Saturday, announcing their plans to implement further economic sanctions.

According to a tweet from Trudeau on Monday, this move will eliminate Russia’s ability to deploy their international currency reserves, “further restricting [Vladimir] Putin’s ability to finance his war of choice.”

Effective immediately, all Canadian financial institutions are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the Russian Central Bank – eliminating its ability to deploy Russia’s international currency reserves and further restricting Putin’s ability to finance his war of choice.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 28, 2022

Over the weekend, Canada doubled down on its support for Ukraine by committing $25 million worth of military equipment. The federal government also announced on Sunday that it would immediately close its airspace to all Russian aircraft until further notice.

Thousands of people demonstrated across Canada demanding justice for Ukraine. A sea of blue and yellow flags rallied in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery and Yonge-Dundas and Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.

Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine last Thursday, escalating years of political tension between the bordering countries. Many Ukrainians found themselves sheltering from explosions in underground subways and evacuating the country.