President Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz meeting prior to the first day of the three-day G7 summit in Germany on June 26. Photo: Sean Gallup - Pool/Getty Images
President Biden announced Sunday that the U.S. and other members of the G7 will impose a ban on imports of Russian gold as part of an effort to impose costs on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Driving the news: "The United States has imposed unprecedented costs on Putin to deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war against Ukraine," Biden tweeted Sunday.
- "Together, the G7 will announce that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia," he added.
The big picture: The official announcement of the ban is expected on Tuesday, when the Treasury issues a determination to stop the import of new gold into the U.S., senior administration officials told reporters on a call Sunday.
- Gold is Russia's second-largest export after energy and is "a source of significant revenue for Putin and Russia," they added. The move will further isolate Russia from the global economy.
- Russia's gold exports account for roughly $19 billion of revenue per year, mostly within the G7 countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
What they're saying: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted the announcement as well on Sunday, noting that the ban on Russian gold will “directly hit Russian oligarchs and strike at the heart of Putin’s war machine," AP reported.
- “We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding. The U.K. and our allies are doing just that," Johnson added.