WASHINGTON: British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Wednesday called on the entire G7 to ban Russia oil imports, saying the world’s leading economies should “go further and faster” in punishing Moscow for invading Ukraine.

Standing alongside US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Truss also hailed transatlantic unity against Russian aggression, saying the strength of the alliance has “surprised” President Vladimir Putin and that more must be done to assure his invasion fails.

“We must double down on our sanctions. That includes... the G7 ending its use of Russian oil and gas” and implementing a full ban on Russian banks using the SWIFT bank messaging system, Truss said in a joint press conference with Blinken at the State Department in Washington.

“Now is not the time to let up. Putin must fail,” she added.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2022