EU freezes Vladimir Putin's assets in response to Ukraine invasion
The European Union has frozen the assets of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in response to the invasion of Ukraine, adding the two names to the EU sanctions list.
The measure means that EU-based banks will be prohibited from making funds available to them, although this will depend on the degree of cooperation from the financial entities.
The decision was confirmed by Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, on Friday evening.
"Russia needs to see that it is going to be isolated from the international community," said Borrell.
Putin is the third world leader to be personally sanctioned by the EU, following Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Borrell noted.
Earlier this week, the bloc sanctioned 351 Duma lawmakers and members of Putin's inner circle.
Putin and Lavrov, however, will not be subject to a travel ban, a regular sanction that often accompanies the freezing of assets, in order to keep the diplomatic channels open.
The limitations of Western diplomacy have been exposed during the border crisis, now turned into a fully-fledged war, although French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Putin as recently as Thursday evening.
The names of Putin and Lavrov were excluded from the previous package of sanctions and it was unclear if the latest raft, discussed on Thursday during an in-person meeting of EU leaders, would go as far as punishing the two most recognisable faces of the Russian government.
The overwhelming speed in which the military attack is unfolding has drastically increased pressure on Western countries to come up with harsher and more radical punishments.
Thursday's initial set of measures was then passed onto the bloc's foreign
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