What sanctions are being imposed on Russia?

FEB 23: However, Russian president Vladimir Putin's move has not triggered the full range of sanctions Western nations have prepared.

What is a sanction?

A sanction is a penalty imposed by one country against another, often in order to stop it acting aggressively or breaking international law.

Sanctions are often designed to hurt a country's economy, or the finances of individual citizens such as leading politicians. They can include travel bans and arms embargoes.

They are among the toughest measures nations can use, short of going to war.

What sanctions have been imposed on Russia?

The EU is sanctioning 27 Russian individuals and organisations, including banks. It is also limiting access to European capital markets — cutting off the ability to access funds from EU banks —and banning trade between the EU and the two rebel-held regions.

Some 351 members of Russia's Duma, parliament's lower house, are also being targeted with sanctions.

US sanctions announced on Tuesday are intended to hurt Russia's ability to finance its military efforts. They target two state-owned banks the US has said are key to Russia's defence sector. They will no longer be able to do business in the US or access the American financial system.

The US said it was also sanctioning five key Russian elites and adding restrictions on US deals involving Russia's national debt.

Americans are now banned from doing business in the rebel-held areas of Luhansk and Donetsk, after Russia recognised them. It has ordered troops there, but says they have not yet been deployed.

Few US firms are active in the regions involved. But the White House said it could impose wider sanctions "should Russia further invade Ukraine".

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced sanctions against five Russian banks and three wealthy Russian businessmen.

"This the first tranche... and we hold further sanctions at readiness to be deployed," the PM said.

However, some MPs said the government should have been tougher - targeting more banks and oligarchs.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has put on hold permission for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany to open.

What other sanctions could Russia face?

Western nations have threatened Russia with harsh sanctions if it invades Ukraine.

Excluding Russia from Swift

One measure would be to exclude Russia from the global financial messaging service Swift, which is used by thousands of financial institutions worldwide.

This would make it very hard for Russian banks to do business overseas.

However, this would have an economic cost for countries like the US and Germany, whose banks have close links with Russia.

The White House says it is unlikely to be unleashed as an immediate response to an invasion.

Banning Russia from using the US dollar

The US could ban Russia from financial transactions involving US dollars. Any Western firm that allowed a Russian institution to deal in dollars would face penalties.

This could have a huge impact on Russia's economy as most of its oil and gas sales are settled in dollars. It could cripple Russia's foreign trade in other sectors.

However, it would mean Russia's oil and gas exports would slump, and that would affect European countries which are dependent on Russian gas.

Block the banks

The US could blacklist Russian banks, making it almost impossible for it to conduct international transactions.

Moscow would have to bail out the banks and do what it could to avoid inflation rising and incomes falling.

However, this would hurt western investors with money in those banks.

Besides, Russia has reserves of over $630bn (£464bn) in its central bank to guard against such economic shocks.

Blocking the export of hi-tech to Russia

The West could restrict the export of key hi-tech commodities to Russia.

The US, for example, could stop companies selling goods such as semiconductor microchips. These are used in everything from cars to smart phones.

This would affect not just Russia's defence and aerospace sectors, but whole swathes of its economy.

However, it could hurt the business of companies which export the technology.

Energy restrictions

Russia's economy is hugely dependent on selling gas and oil overseas and Western nations could refuse to buy oil and gas from the big Russian energy giants such as Gazprom or Rosneft.

Again, however, this could bring higher gas prices and fuel shortages to Europe. Germany, for example, relies on Russia for one-third of its gas supplies.

Limiting Russian access to London's financial institutions

Such is the scale of Russian money in banks and property in the UK that the capital has been dubbed "Londongrad".

The UK government claims it is tackling this problem with "unexplained wealth orders", which require people to say where their cash has come from.

But only a handful of these orders have ever been used.

Difficulties for the West

Western countries have coordinated plans for severe sanctions if Russia launches an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

But what if it only takes action in small steps?

US and European diplomats say Western countries are less united in how to respond to these scenarios.

Some countries which have closer relations with Russia - such as Hungary, Italy, and Austria - may be unwilling to trigger major sanctions.

BBC