Russian Elites, Proxies, And Oligarchs Task Force Ministerial Joint Statement

18th March 2022

On Wednesday 16 March 2022, the inaugural ministerial meeting of the Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs Task Force took place. It brought together international allies who committed to working together on enforcing sanctions that have been placed on oligarchs connected with Russia's latest unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

We, the undersigned Finance, Justice, Home Affairs, and Trade Ministers and European Commissioners, jointly commit to prioritizing our resources and working together to take all available legal steps to find, restrain, freeze, seize, and, where appropriate, confiscate or forfeit the assets of those individuals and entities that have been sanctioned in connection with Russia's premeditated, unjust, and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the continuing aggression of the Russian regime.

Russia's latest invasion of Ukraine represents a further assault on the fundamental norms and laws, including the UN charter, that underpin the international order. By working together to hunt down the assets of key Russian elites and proxies and to act against their enablers and facilitators, we take a further step to isolate them from the international financial system and impose consequences for their actions, and we encourage other countries to also take up this critical effort.

The Task Force that we have launched today demonstrates our unwavering support for Ukraine and our collective resolve and joint commitment to holding accountable those who have complicity in Russia’s unjust war. We are determined to deny them the ability to hide and benefit from their assets in all jurisdictions and to undermine the integrity of the international financial system.

The Honorable Janet L Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, United States
The Honorable Merrick B Garland, Attorney General, United States
The Honorable Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Trade Tourism and Investment, Australia
The Honorable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Canada
Bruno Le Maire, Minister for Economy, Finance and Recovery, France
Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justice, France
The Honorable Christian Lindner, Federal Minister of Finance, Germany
The Honorable Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany
Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia, Italy
Minister of Economy and Finance Daniele Franco, Italy
The Honorable NINOYU Satoshi, Chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission, Japan
The Honorable FURUKAWA Yoshihisa, Minister of Justice, Japan
The Honorable SUZUKI Shunichi, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services, Japan
The Right Honorable Priti Patel MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department, United Kingdom
The Right Honorable Rishi Sunak MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom
Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice
Mairead McGuinness, European Commissioner for financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union