PayPal Holdings Inc, an online payments company, ceased accepting new users in Russia on Wednesday due to the current situation, a company spokesperson told Reuters.
Alexander Bornyakov, Ukraine's deputy minister for digital transformation, said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that PayPal should take more drastic measures and shut down completely in Russia.
"If PayPal supports democratic values, it should go out from Russia," he said.
PayPal, like many of its competitors, is currently managing the consequences of sanctions, according to a representative.
Following sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other nations in reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, PayPal has already blacklisted some users and some of the country's largest institutions. The move has been dubbed a "special operation" by Russia.
Multiple Russian financial institutions have been blacklisted as a result of government sanctions by Visa Inc, Mastercard Inc, and American Express Co, as well as mobile payment providers Apple Pay and Google Pay. It was not immediately clear whether any new Russian accounts had been blocked.
In response to the sanctions, Moscow has barred foreign investors who own tens of billions of dollars in Russian equities and bonds from fleeing.
Bornyakov and his colleagues in Ukraine have also requested PayPal's assistance in seeking funds.
However, according to Reuters, Ukraine's emailed request to PayPal was aimed at soliciting donations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. PayPal prohibits transactions involving ammunition and firearms.
According to the representative, PayPal is assisting users in Ukraine through cross-border transactions and its Xoom service for international money transfers.
"Since this crisis began, PayPal has actively worked to enable donations to non-profit fundraising efforts in support of Ukrainian humanitarian relief efforts," the company said in a statement.
President Vladimir Putin declared on Feb. 24 in a pre-dawn TV address that Russia could not feel "safe, develop, and exist" because of what he believed was a persistent danger from modern Ukraine.
Airports and military offices were attacked immediately, followed by the arrival of tanks and troops from Russia, Russian-annexed Crimea, and its ally Belarus. Warplanes are now bombing major cities.
Russia refuses to use the phrases "war" or "invasion," despite the fact that many of its leaders' arguments were wrong or unreasonable. Putin stated that his purpose was to defend people who had been bullied or subjected to genocide, as well as to "demilitarize and de-Nazify" Ukraine.
There has been no genocide in Ukraine, which is a thriving democracy led by a Jewish president.
Putin maintained for months that he would invade his neighbor, but then he ripped up a peace treaty and launched what Germany refers to as "Putin's war," pouring armies into Ukraine's north, east, and south.
