US, Canada Target Russia’s Central Bank In Response To Invasion

The United States and Canada had a massive influence on the Russian economy on Monday as they blocked engagement in any transactions involving the country’s central bank.

This is in further punishment of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which started last week.

These new moves will make it hard for the Russian central bank to use its vast reserves of hard currency to buy rubles, the value of which collapsed against the dollar and euro on the Moscow Stock Exchange.

The fierce sanctions imposed by the U.S., which also bar transactions with Russia's finance ministry and national wealth fund, are likely to cripple Russian purchasing power and drive down investments.

A senior U.S. administration official said on Monday, "Our objective is to make sure that the Russian economy goes backward if President Putin decides to continue to go forward with an invasion in Ukraine and we have the tools to continue to do that.”

Canadian Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland also said; “The ban is meant to ensure that Russia's invasion of Ukraine will be a strategic failure.”

"Canada is firmly on the side of the heroic resistance of the people of Ukraine and we will continue to take further action to ensure President Putin does not succeed," she said in a statement.

The move comes after the U.S. and its allies last week imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, including President Vladimir Putin.