Britain targets Russia’s $50bn Arctic oil undertaking in new sanctions bundle as Burnham vows to ‘flip the screws’ on Putin’s conflict funds

Britain has targeted Russia‘s flagship Arctic oil project as part of a new sanctions package as Andy Burnham pledged to ‘turn the screws’ on Vladimir Putin‘s regime.

The Prime Minister announced the new sanctions as he attended a summit of European leaders in Dublin.

The UK is also taking fresh action against Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’ transporting Russian oil and gas, as well as Russia’s major coal companies, and oil firm Slavneft.

It means Britain is the first country in the world to have sanctioned all of Russia’s top 10 oil producers, the Government said.

At the heart of the new sanctions package is action against LLC Vostok Oil, which is state-controlled Rosneft’s flagship Arctic oil project.

Part of an almost $50billion (£38billion) investment, Vostok Oil is a vast development on the Taimyr Peninsula.

Britain has targeted Russia’s flagship Arctic oil project as part of a new sanctions package as Andy Burnham pledged to ‘turn the screws’ on Vladimir Putin’s regime

The announcement of the new UK sanctions coincided with Mr Burnham’s attendance at the European Political Community (EPC) on Thursday

In September this year, Russian state media distributed photos of Putin watching the launch of loadings on the remote Arctic coast via video link.

The announcement of the new UK sanctions coincided with Mr Burnham’s attendance at the European Political Community (EPC) on Thursday.

At the Dublin summit, the PM called on leaders from around 50 countries to pile more pressure on Putin to force him to engage seriously in peace talks with Ukraine.

‘Peace talks on Ukraine have progressed but now is not the time for complacency – we must continue to ramp up pressure on Russia to agree a full and immediate ceasefire,’ Mr Burnham said.

‘That is why the UK has announced a sweep of stinging new sanctions to turn the screws on Russia’s oil revenues and drive forward an end to the Kremlin’s needless war.

‘We all now need to harness the momentum on negotiations and find a way forward for our security at home, and the security of our continent.’

The PM co-chaired a small group meeting on Ukraine alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the summit. 

The group discussed how to build on the recent US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi on ending the war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Representatives from the US, Russia and Ukraine participated in the two days of negotiations in the Gulf state this week.

At Thursday’s meeting, Mr Burnham said allies of Ukraine welcomed the resumption of peace talks but said Europe should play a part.

‘I’m sure I speak for everybody in saying you have our complete support, both in terms of resisting the aggression that you continue to face, but also in the negotiation process that has started,’ the PM toldMr Zelensky.

He added that allies will try to support Ukraine ‘in every way possible through that process’, and ‘we will obviously continue to press for European representation in that process’.

Mr Burnham and Mr Zelensky sat side by side at the head of the table at the meeting attended by more than a dozen leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Ireland’s Micheál Martin and Canada’s Mark Carney, as well as the presidents of the EU Commission and EU Council and the chief of NATO. 

While at the EPC, the PM was also expected to co-chair a defence and security roundtable with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Leaders were expected to use the roundtable to discuss Europe’s response to the hybrid threat posed by Russia.