New Enemies
In a government decree issued on July 20 and disseminated on Friday, the Council of Ministers updated the roster of foreign states deemed to have engaged in hostile actions against Russian diplomatic and consular missions abroad.
The decree lists Greece, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia as included nations.
Accordingly, the government announced restrictions on the recruitment of personnel for embassies, consulates, and state representation offices from individuals located within Russia if their country appears on the hostile list. A full ban on such hires is also possible.
Beyond naming the states, the roster specifies the number of people on Russian soil with whom diplomatic missions from unfriendly states may sign employment contracts.
Specifically, the document notes that under the new order Greece may employ up to 34 people, Denmark up to 20, and Slovakia up to 16. Slovenia and Croatia will be unable to hire staff for their diplomatic missions and consulates in Russia.
The Cabinet also recalled that similar restrictions were applied to the diplomatic missions of the United States and the Czech Republic in May 2021.
officials stated that the list approved by the government is not final and could expand in light of ongoing hostile actions by foreign states toward Russian missions abroad.
Russia’s blacklist
Following sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, the government established a blacklist of foreign states and territories that have engaged in unfriendly acts against Russia, its companies, and its citizens.
Originally the blacklist encompassed 48 countries and territories, including the United Kingdom, most European Union member states, Canada, the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and several other regions and dependencies.
Under the decree, Russian citizens, companies, and the state itself gained the right to settle debts with creditors located in unfriendly states using rubles. To facilitate this, a Russian bank can open a special ruble account in the name of a foreign creditor, enabling ruble payments at the Central Bank’s exchange rate on payment day.
The new provisional mechanism applies to payments exceeding 10 million rubles (or the equivalent in foreign currency) per month.
“Measures of influence” on enemies
As early as March 31, President Vladimir Putin announced at a government aviation meeting that a decree had been signed to require companies from non-enemy countries to pay for Russian natural gas in rubles.
Putin stated that the plan asks counterparties from such nations to open ruble accounts in Russian banks in order to purchase Russian gas, describing it as an open and transparent arrangement.
He noted that refusal to follow this payment scheme would be treated as a default by Russia, emphasizing that no goods are supplied freely and that charitable acts are not part of the deal.
On April 23, Putin signed a decree applying measures of influence in response to unfriendly acts by foreign states. He directed diplomatic agencies to limit the signing of unfriendly employment contracts with individuals located in Russia, up to a complete ban if necessary.
The president called on the government to assess how many agreements with workers on Russian soil could be concluded under the new framework. The decree also clarifies that the measures do not apply to citizens of unfriendly states who come to Russia as employees of diplomatic missions and consular offices.
Additionally, Putin instructed the Cabinet to compile a list of unfriendly foreign states to which such influence measures would be applied.