Australia steps up Russia sanctions

Prime Minister Tony Abbott won't rule out more sanctions against Russia after its "bullying" in eastern Ukraine.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott

(AAP)

Australia is ramping up its business and trade sanctions against Russia.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament on Monday that Russia was "deliberately and openly" violating Ukrainian sovereignty by moving at least 1000 troops and military vehicles into the country.

"Australia will lift its sanctions against Russia to the level of the European Union," Mr Abbott said.

This includes no new arms exports, no access by Russian state-owned banks to the Australian capital market, no new exports for the oil and gas industry, no new trade or investment in the Crimea and targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against specific individuals.

"The bullying of small nations by big ones and assertions that might is right should have no place in our world," Mr Abbott said.

Russia's central bank in June 2012 began buying Australian bonds for its portfolio and set up Australian accounts.

Australia's new bans also include an expansion of financial sanctions and travel bans on an extra 63 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and 21 entities, taking the total number of financial sanctions and travel bans to 113 individuals and 32 entities.

Mr Abbott declined to rule out any further sanctions.

Ukraine would also be a "matter of significant discussion" when Foreign Minister Julie Bishop heads to Europe this week for a NATO conference, she told AAP.

The prime minister said over the weekend that calls to ban Russian President Vladimir Putin from the G20 being hosted in Brisbane in November were weighing on his mind.

But he said no single member of the leadership group had the power to determine who attended the summit.

In June, the US and its allies rescheduled a Group of Eight meeting to take place in Brussels rather than Sochi, meeting without Russia as the Group of Seven.


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