Britain has frozen more Russian bank assets than any other country as part of the international wave of sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, ministers have said.

The Foreign Office revealed the UK had frozen a total of £258.8 billion of bank assets, compared to £240 billion by the US and £33.8 billion by the EU.

The figures came after the UK Government faced criticism over the speed with which it was imposing sanctions on individuals in Britain linked with the Russian president’s regime.

Britain has imposed sanctions on individual members of the Russian and Belarusian elite, including Putin and at least 12 banks and companies.

At the same time, the British Government is to push for an international limit on import of Russian gas in an attempt to limit Western reliance on its energy supplies.

Ministers have spoken about targeting more than 100 individuals and companies, but have so far named only around 14 individual Russians – leading to criticism of Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary.

But on Saturday, a Foreign Office source said: “Liz’s focus has been on hitting banks and financial institutions, which have a bigger impact on the Russian economy than sanctioning single individuals. That’s the strategy. We’ve gone further than the EU and US on bank asset freezes, which is where Russia really feels the pinch.”

The source added: “Targeting oligarchs is important – but it’s by no means the full picture or the most effective way to debilitate Russia’s economy and war machine.

“The emergency legislation we’re bringing in via the economic crime bill will allow us to move faster against oligarchs. It’s something Liz has pushed hard for. More oligarchs will be sanctioned soon as part of Liz’s ‘hit list’ that we’re working our way through. She’s relentlessly focused on keeping up the pressure on sanctions.”