The deal brokered by Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad al-Khalifa –
close friend to the Duke of York – will also see the tiny kingdom’s
government revise visa policies to make it easier for Russians to travel to
the country on business and see Gulf Air open a direct route between Moscow
and Manama.

Earlier, the European Union announced asset freezes and travel bans on 15
Russians and Ukrainians in response to Moscow’s actions. This followed the
US imposing a range of economic sanctions. These include travel bans on Igor
Sechin, head of Russian state-controlled energy giant Rosneft.

“Russia’s dangerous and inflammatory actions against Ukraine are illegal
and illegitimate,” said US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Monday. “Since
Russia has refused to follow through on its Geneva commitments, today the
United States is following through on its statements – we are imposing
additional costs against Russia, including sanctions on individuals in the
Russian leadership’s inner circle and 17 entities closely linked to
previously sanctioned members of the inner circle.”

According to Mumtalakat’s website the SWF has interests in 35 commercial
enterprises worth an estimated $7.1bn.

Bahrain also said that it has signed a deal with Russia’s Rosoboronexport
agency to “enhance Bahrain’s defence capabilities through the provision of
an advanced defence system”. Rosoboronexport is Russia’s largest arms
exporter and was not hit by the latest round of sanctions aimed at Moscow.

Separately, Britain and America have pledged to spearhead a worldwide hunt for
“tens of billions” stolen from Ukraine by its former president and his
cronies yesterday at a London summit called to beef-up the country’s
anti-corruption efforts.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said an order to freeze £23m of suspect funds
as part of a Serious Fraud Office investigation was a demonstration to the
people of Ukraine that foreign governments “stand behind” Kyiv as it
attempts to recover looted funds.