Inaugural U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue

Building on the unique economic and security partnership between our two nations, the U.S. Department of State hosted a senior UK government delegation for the inaugural U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue in Washington, D.C., on July 19.  The Dialogue delivered on the 2023 Atlantic Declaration commitment to strengthen our cooperation on sanctions strategy, design, targeting, implementation, mitigations, and enforcement, by bringing together departments and agencies from both countries to discuss priorities across geographic and thematic sanctions regimes.

The United States and the United Kingdom reaffirmed that sanctions are a key tool of foreign policy.  The delegations discussed the use of targeted sanctions to deter and disrupt malign activity and to demonstrate our readiness to take action to defend international norms.

In response to Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, together with our allies and partners we have imposed unprecedented costs on the Kremlin.  Since the start of the war, we have designated over 2,500 individuals and entities, blocking billions of dollars in assets.  Sanctions and export controls are starving Russia’s military of key components and technology and restricting Putin’s ability to fight a 21st century war.

The United States and the United Kingdom continue to intensify our coordination on United Nations and autonomous sanctions regimes.  This includes action to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, counter terrorism, target cyber-criminal networks, and address concerning situations in countries such as Sudan, Burma, and Iran.  The talks also looked beyond bilateral coordination to broader efforts with partners to show collective leadership on the targeted, legitimate, and effective use of sanctions to tackle threats to international peace and security. 

The delegations also focused on collaboration to protect humanitarian activity from unintended impacts of sanctions, building on our significant cooperation on the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 2664 and on follow-up across autonomous sanctions regimes.