Russia Includes Bahamas, Other Islands in List of ‘Unfriendly’ States

Moscow added The Bahamas to its list of “foreign states and territories that commit unfriendly actions against Russia, Russian companies and citizens”.

Besides The Bahamas, the list included Guernsey and The Isle of Man for supporting the sanctions introduced by the UK against Russia, the government website reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, The Bahamas was marked as “unfriendly” for introducing “a ban on all operations with the Bank of Russia, the Russian Ministry of Finance and a number of credit organisations of the Russian Federation”.

Last Friday, Moscow expanded the list by adding five European states that have taken “hostile” actions.

The list of “unfriendly” countries, first established in May 2021 to include the United States and the Czech Republic, restricts the number of local staff that can be hired at designated nations’ diplomatic missions in Russia.

Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, and Denmark are now on the list, according to the Russian government’s updated list published on Friday.

In previous remarks, Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that Moscow will stop supplying gas to countries it considers “unfriendly” unless they pay in roubles.

The decree applies to the foreign countries “that commit unfriendly actions toward the Russian Federation, Russian legal entities and inpiduals”.

“We offer contractors from such countries a clear and transparent scheme,” Putin said. “We will continue to consistently and systematically move in this direction as part of a long-term plan, to increase the share of foreign trade settlements in the national currency and the currencies of those countries that are reliable partners.”