US, UK, Canada, and Japan will ban imports of Russian gold in an effort to hit Moscow's ability to find the war in Ukraine.

Gold exports were worth £12.6bn ($15.4bn) to Russia in 2021, and the UK says their significance has improved since the invasion as oligarchs hurry to buy bullion to avoid sanctions. It comes as the G7 group of the world's richest nations meets in Germany.

Biden indicated the other G7 nations - Germany, France, and Italy - would also join the ban. Together, the G7 will proclaim that we will ban the import of Russian gold, a major export that rakes in tens of billions of dollars for Russia," he said in a tweet.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "We need to starve the Putin regime of its funding. The UK and our allies are doing just that."

The US, European Union, UK, and other countries have sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian individuals and businesses so far.

Source:BBC News