UK Targets Kyrgyz Financial Institutions to Pressure Putin Amid Sanctions Crackdown
UK Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty announced sanctions targeting eight Kyrgyz entities, including Capital Bank of Central Asia and its director Kantemir Chalbayev, to disrupt Russian financial flows. The move aims to keep money out of Putin's war chest by addressing 'dodgy crypto networks' used for sanctions evasion. Doughty stated that Russian leaders are 'sorely mistaken' if they believe they can hide efforts to evade sanctions through such networks. The sanctions follow a recent exchange of penalties between London and Moscow, with Russia sanctioning 21 individuals including former Labour MP Denis MacShane. The UK and US are coordinating efforts to end the Ukraine war, with Trump suggesting trilateral talks between himself, Putin, and Zelensky. A YouGov poll shows 57% of Britons support deploying British troops as peacekeepers in Ukraine if a peace deal is reached.