A few little inter-linked pieces of news have just broken. The Dutch government has said it is currently preventing 14 yachts from leaving the country due to sanctions on Russia, including 12 that were under construction for Russian owners.
Reuters reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the statement in a letter to parliament, updating lawmakers on the enforcement of sanctions.
At the same time, long-term ally of
Vladimir Putin and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been talking. Medvedev has said that Russia will fight Western attempts to expropriate Russian property overseas with lawsuits. He likened attempts to seize Russian business assets abroad to thievery, and said they would be fought in courts in the US and Europe.
Those quotes broke on the wires while Peter Kyle, the UK opposition spokesperson on Northern Ireland for the Labour party, was being interviewed on Sky News.
Put to him, he said “They can try what they want” but that Medvedev’s words were “an admission that sanctions against them are working. Our sanctions have been wide and far, far reaching, and the Labour party wants the sanctions to go further.”