Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing an extensive emergency law enforcement taskforce to target Russian sanctions evasion and the financial assets of people linked to Vladimir Putin and the Russian State.

The new dedicated 'Kleptocracy Cell' in the National Crime Agency will target criminal sanctions evasion and corrupt assets hidden in the UK. The Government is working with the NCA to establish the new Cell at pace and the NCA have already surged additional officers to support existing efforts and will further enhance the Cell to progress these complex investigations. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) works extremely closely with the NCA, and this includes close cooperation on sanctions breaches.