German industry shifted from reliance on Russian natural gas to producing more energy with renewable sources, importing gas and more coal to provide power and heating while new power generation facilities could be built.

Germany also increased defence expenditures by approximately $100 billion, by some estimates making it the third largest military spender in the world. In addition, Germany provided arms shipments to Ukraine, the first time that it provided arms to a country at war since the end of World War II. In response to the invasion, Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz, suspended the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and announced a new policy of energy independence from Russia. Some countries also applied sanctions to Belarusian organisations and individuals, such as President Alexander Lukashenko, because of Belarus' involvement in the invasion. Several countries that are historically neutral, such as Switzerland and Singapore, have agreed to partial sanctions. Some multinational companies have disengaged from Russia to comply with sanctions and trade restrictions imposed by home states, but also on their own accord, beyond what was required by law, to avoid the economic and reputational risks associated with maintaining commercial ties with Russia. and EU governments have explicitly urged the global private sector to help uphold sanctions, and the EU, UK and Australia have also called on global digital platforms to remove Russian-based web sites. Major multinational companies including Apple, IKEA, ExxonMobil, and General Motors, have individually decided to apply sanctions to Russia. Sanctions also included asset freezes on the Russian Central Bank, which holds $630 billion in foreign-exchange reserves, to prevent it from offsetting the impact of sanctions By 1 March, the total amount of Russian assets frozen by sanctions amounted to $1 trillion. The sanctions included cutting off major Russian banks from SWIFT, the global messaging network for international payments, although there would still be limited accessibility to ensure the continued ability to pay for gas shipments. The sanctions were wide-ranging, targeting individuals, banks, businesses, monetary exchanges, bank transfers, exports, and imports. With the commencement of attacks on 24 February 2022, a large number of other countries began applying sanctions with the aim of devastating the Russian economy. Western countries and others imposed sanctions on Russia after it recognised the independence of its allied territories, the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, on 21 February 2022 in a speech by Vladimir Putin. Main article: International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War History of sanctions US president Joe Biden's statements and a short question and answer session on 24 February 2022

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