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” Kiev as it attempts to recover looted funds.
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