A new ban on gold imports from Russia is set to be announced by US President Joe Biden and the other Group of Seven leaders, in the latest form of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The new ban will be announced at a summit in Germany beginning on Sunday. All gold leaving Russia for G-7 countries for the first time will be subject to the ban. The US Treasury Department will officially issue the ban on Tuesday, and it will prohibit all US imports.

Western sanctions already closed European and US markets to gold from Russia, the world’s second biggest bullion-miner. However the G-7 pledge will completely block Russia from any connection to the world’s top two trading centers, London and New York.

Adrian Ash, head of research at brokerage BullionVault said, “What this does is formalize what the gold industry has already done anyway.”

Russia had already been removed from the accredited list of the London Bullion Market Association, and shipments between Russia and London have dropped to almost zero since the invasion of Ukraine. Last year, $15 billion in Russian gold arrived in London, which accounted for 28% of UK gold imports.

A previous executive order signed by Biden on April 15th forbid any US person from taking part in any gold-based transaction with Russia’s central bank, the country’s National Wealth Fund or its finance ministry.

In theory refineries could still import Russian gold directly, however most have decided not to on principle.

Flows of other metal commodities such as copper, nickel and palladium have continued due to players in the commodity industry not wanting to upset relationships with some of the world’s biggest suppliers of raw materials.

Practically, as with oil embargos however, the effects of this will be limited, as Russia will simply export its gold to China and the Middle East, who are not bound by this ban.