<b>Live updates: follow the latest news on </b><a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/02/18/russia-ukraine-latest-news/"><b>Russia-Ukraine</b></a> Malaysia has no intention of imposing <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/03/08/hillary-clinton-urges-world-leaders-to-hammer-russia-with-oil-and-gas-sanctions/" target="_blank">sanctions on Russia</a>, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said, a few days after neighbouring Singapore censured Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. “We don’t believe in unilateral sanctions,” Mr Saifuddin told members of parliament on Tuesday. “Sanctions have to go through the UN. As a Human Rights Council member, we have already recommended a ceasefire and for negotiations to continue.” Singapore announced sanctions against Russia on Saturday, becoming the first and only country in South-East Asia to do so without going through the UN. The sanctions include the imposition of export controls on items that can be used as weapons, financial measures on designated Russian banks and restrictions on cryptocurrency trades that may be used to circumvent financial sanctions. “We have to be careful about sanctions even though they are one of the most powerful weapons that can be used,” Mr Saifuddin said, according to a Bloomberg report. Innocent people will be affected the most if the measures are not aimed at specific targets, he said. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 26, drawing swift and severe sanctions from the US and Europe. On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council voted overwhelmingly for the “immediate operationalisation” of a three-person team of experts known as a Commission of Inquiry — the council’s most powerful tool to scrutinise human rights breaches. The experts will be tasked to collect and analyse evidence that could be used by a court, such as the International Criminal Court, which has launched its own investigation over Russia’s invasion. <i>– Additional reporting by agencies</i>