Steve Holland, Guy Faulconbridge, and Dmitry Antonov

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – A list of Russian elites located in the inner circle of President Vladimir Putin has been prepared by the United States and allies to impose sanctions on Russia if it sends troops into Ukraine.

After Russian troops’ buildup near Ukraine, arousing fears of war and threatening sanctions on companies and individuals with close ties to Russia, Britain called Putin to “step back”

Dmitry Peskov (Kremlin spokesperson) called the British warnings “very concerning”, saying they made Britain less attractive for investors and could hurt British businesses.

He said, “It is not often that you hear or see such direct threats against attacking business.” Russian companies are targeted by certain countries. Retaliatory actions against them will be taken, and these steps will be developed based upon our interests.

Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister was scheduled to call Putin on Monday. He would then travel to Ukraine Tuesday.

Johnson stated that he would tell President Putin “Whatever I say, I have said before is that I believe we all really need to take a step back form the brink” and Russia must do the same.”

According to TASS, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Russia would talk by telephone with Antony Blinken, Secretary of State in America on Tuesday.

At the request of America, the U.N. Security Council would meet publicly on Monday to address Russia’s troop building-up. According to the United States, the U.N. Security Council meeting will be a forum for Russia’s explanation.

Russia indicated it might block the meeting, while the Chinese ambassador at the United Nations stated that his country favors quiet diplomacy but would not support a session of the Security Council. The meeting must have nine votes to move forward.

RUSSIAN MONEY ABROAD

London is the preferred destination for large outflows of funds from ex-Soviet republics since 1991’s fall of Soviet Union.

Opponents of Putin have urged the West to get tough https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/how-financial-western-sanctions-might-target-russia-2022-01-19 on Russian money, though oligarchs and Russian officials continue to flaunt their wealth at Europe’s most luxurious destinations.

Washington and London both declined to identify the people they intended to target.

According to a U.S. official, “The people we identified belong in or near the Kremlin inner circles and are involved in government decision making or at minimum are complicit with the Kremlin’s destabilizing behaviors.”

Putin’s associates will be no longer able to use spouses and other relatives as proxy to avoid sanctions. They would be cut off from international finance and they will not be able to use their families’ money for the West.

Russia, who seized Crimea, Ukraine, in 2014, supports pro-Russian rebels against the Ukrainian government. It denies that Russia intends to make any more incursions, but demands sweeping security assurances, including a NATO pledge not to admit Ukraine.

While some NATO nations, such as the United States of America and Britain, have provided arms for Ukraine to help them fight in wars elsewhere on their territory they have not yet sent troops.

Poland, which borders Ukraine and the Russian enclaves of Kaliningrad, Belarus, is hosting Russian drills.

“NOWHERE TO HIDE!”

Liz Truss, British foreign minister, was scheduled to speak to Parliament on the topic of sanctions. She had announced on Sunday that new legislation would be introduced this week in order to expand the range of sanctions that could be used against Russia.

Britain has already imposed sanctions https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list on about 180 people and 48 entities since Russia annexed Crimea, including six people it says are close to Putin. Britain has the power to ban individuals from entering or to place assets on their behalf.

Yet, Britain still has a softer approach to Russia’s business class than the United States. For instance, it spared Igor Sechin from being sanctioned by Washington in 2014 for his role as Rosneft’s CEO.

Many of its members are part NATO. The European Union has threatened Russia with “strong political consequences” and huge economic losses if Russia invades Ukraine.

Europe’s dependency on Russian energy resources weakens its hand. USA asked Qatari, the world’s largest gas producer and some other exporters to investigate whether extra gas could be provided to Europe in case Russian supplies are interrupted.

According to Reuters, a person familiar with the discussions said that Qatar wanted the EU to limit resales outside of the bloc in return for the EU’s market liberalization principle.

(Guy Faulconbridge, Dmitry Antonov and William James reported from London. Additional reporting was done by William James in London. Writing by Kevin Liffey. Editing by Timothy Heritage.