Australia decides on further steps against Russia in relation to G20

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has neither confirmed nor denied local media assumptions that Canberra, due to the situation around Ukraine, intends not to invite the Russian leadership to the Group of Twenty (G20) summit that will be held in Brisbane in November.

“We are still deciding on further steps that we will take in relation to the G20,” she said in an interview with ABC television on Thursday. “The G20 meeting is not until November and there’s a lot of water to pass under the bridge [before then].” This “will be the collective action of the international community that I hope will make Russia change course and come back to sensible discussion through diplomatic dialogue.”

On Wednesday, Bishop announced that “the Australian Government will impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on those who have been instrumental in the Russian threat to Ukraine sovereignty,” she said. The sanctions and travel bans had been imposed on 12 Russians and Ukrainians, she added. “Australia has taken these actions in solidarity and support for a rules-based international order,” Bishop stated.

The Australian Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass that the list of the persons whose entry to the country is banned would not be published. “At this point I'm not able to identify them because we are implementing the Autonomous Sanctions Regulations of 2011 and I don't want to give an indication in advance in case any assets are moved, but once that process is completed I'll be able to give an indication,” she said.

On Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that the sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union against Russia were totally unacceptable and would not be left without consequences. Discussing the results of the recent Crimean referendum, Lavrov “highlighted the principled stance set out in the Russian president’s address on March 18.” “It was stressed that the republic’s residents in a democratic way, in accordance with international law and the UN Charter, made their choice that Russia accepts and respects,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “And the sanctions introduced by the United States and the European Union are absolutely unacceptable and will not be left without consequences."