UK to clamp down on sanctions loopholes used by Wagner group head

Loophole meant mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin could sue journalist

UK ministers have tightened up sanctions rules to avoid a repeat of a recent controversy in which lawyers acting for the head of the Wagner group obtained an exemption from curbs to sue a British journalist.

The Treasury minister Joanna Penn announced on Thursday that the government would change the way it decides whether to grant licences for sanctioned individuals to use frozen money for legal cases.