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G7 to warn Chinese banks to stop aiding Russia in evading sanctions
The Group of Seven (G7) wealthy democracies is expected to issue a stern warning to smaller Chinese banks to stop assisting Russia in evading Western sanctions. The warning is expected to be made at the summit in Italy next week, where leaders will discuss the threat posed by burgeoning Chinese-Russian trade to the fight in Ukraine. The focus will be on smaller Chinese banks, rather than the largest ones, and the U.S. is prepared to use sanctions and tighter export controls to reduce Russia's ability to circumvent Western sanctions. The U.S. is also expected to announce significant new sanctions next week on financial and nonfinancial targets. The G7 summit is also expected to focus on leveraging profits generated by Russian assets frozen in the West for Ukraine's benefit. Washington has so far been reluctant to implement sanctions on major Chinese banks due to the potential ripple effects on the global economy and U.S.-China relations. However, concerns over the possibility of sanctions have already caused China's big banks to throttle payments for cross-border transactions involving Russians.
