Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet, energy revenues, its defense-industrial sector and entities linked to disinformation efforts, the Canadian government said on Tuesday.
A government statement, issued after Carney’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside the G7 summit in France, also included the New Zealand company Maritime Mutual in a list of companies and individuals sanctioned. The company was the subject of a Reuters special report on how it helped facilitate the trade of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian and Russian oil. In February, Britain had sanctioned the company, saying it had supported the Russian government by carrying out business in a sector of strategic importance.
Russia’s Retaliation
The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by issuing a list of 103 Canadian citizens it said were barred from entering the country, including members of parliament, government and parliamentary officials. A ministry statement said those on the list had engaged in activities aimed at “discrediting the constitutional system and the foreign policy course of our country.” It said Russia “will not accept the hostile line of the current political elite” and pledged to “continue to respond appropriately to Ottawa’s provocative actions, be it direct encouragement of the Kyiv junta to commit terrorist acts or interference in Russia’s internal affairs.”
A Broader Pattern Of Pressure
The latest exchange of sanctions and counter-measures underscores the deepening rift between Canada and Russia over the war in Ukraine, with Ottawa positioning itself among the more vocal Western allies pushing for tighter economic pressure on Moscow. The inclusion of Maritime Mutual in Canada’s sanctions list also reflects a broader Western effort to crack down on the network of shipping and insurance firms that have allowed Russia and Iran to continue exporting oil despite existing sanctions regimes, even as those efforts have repeatedly run into jurisdictional and enforcement challenges across different countries.
(with input from Reuters)
