Some Western companies are being accused of war crimes over prolonging Ukraine war by benefitting Russia financially. JPMorgan, HSBC, and Citigroup are being targeted by Kyiv over their links to Russia’s oil companies.
Ukraine claims because of such Western companies, the war in Ukraine is not ending in more than four months as they are providing credit to some Russian companies that are key income sources for Moscow.
Reuters
Zelensky’s Economic Adviser Wrote Letter To JPMorgan and HSBC
Oleg Ustenko, the Economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Financial Times that he wrote letters to Jamie Dimon and Noel Quinn, CEOs of JPMorgan and HSBC respectively, urging them to stop financing companies that trade Russian oil and to sell their shares in Gazprom and Rosneft, which are Kremlin-supported oil companies.
Reuters
The advisor also expressed that when the war is over, the country’s Justice Ministry plans to sue these companies at the International Criminal Court as they are committing war crimes by helping Moscow financially at the time of war.
JPMorgan Also Accused of Scaremongering
JPMorgan analysts are also accused of scaremongering as they published a report, which stated that global oil prices could climb to $380 per barrel if a price cap is imposed on Russian oil.
According to Newsweek, financial institutions were among the companies to announce plans to scale back operations in Russia after Putin launched the war. As they did so, Western governments announced they would issue sanctions against Russia, specifically targeting Russian oil, which experts have said continue to help Russia finance the war.
In an effort to stop benefitting Russia, in March HSBC had stated that it will not accept any new business or customers in Russia.
JPMorgan, in a statement to the Financial Times, noted its role in implementing Western sanctions on Russia. Citigroup also announced in March that it would be reducing operations in Russia, though the company noted it would “take time” to fully leave the country “due to the nature of banking and financial services operations.”
