The United States and the United Kingdom announced new sanctions today to restrict Russia's ability to continue the war in Ukraine, shortly before the start of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

The sanctions should prevent "approximately 70 entities in Russia and elsewhere from receiving goods exported from the US, adding them to the Commerce Department's blacklist," said a US official, citing more than 300 new sanctions against "individuals, organizations, ships and aircraft" across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Other members of the G7, the group made up of the United Kingdom, France, Japan, the United States, Germany, Canada and Italy, are also preparing to "put in place new sanctions and barriers to exports", said the official.

Soon afterwards, London unveiled new measures targeting Russia's mining sector, including the diamond trade, which brings Moscow billions of dollars every year.

The G7 must work to stop Russian military supplies, close sanctions loopholes, further reduce its dependence on Russian energy, continue to restrict Moscow's access to the international financial system and commit to freezing Russian assets until the end of the war, Joe Biden's senior administration official assured.

A European Union official had already said on Thursday that the leaders of the G7 countries will discuss sanctions against Russia's diamond trade.

The EU official stressed that India's accession would be key to guaranteeing the impact of any sanctions regime in this area.

Russia exported almost five billion dollars (4.6 billion euros) in diamonds in 2021, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, an international trade data portal created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The G7 leaders will be able to present their arguments directly to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been invited to the Hiroshima summit along with the leaders of other major developing economies.

India also maintains close military ties with Russia and has never condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which took place on February 24, 2022. (Lusa)