Microsoft will suspend all new sales of its products and services in Russia due to the country’s attacks on Ukraine.
Microsoft is joining the chorus of companies that have stopped offering their products in Russia following the county’s invasion of Ukraine.
Microsoft President Brad Smith announced the news today and spoke on behalf of the company to condemn the incursion.
“Like the rest of the world, we are horrified, angered, and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked, and unlawful invasion by Russia,” Smith notes in the official blog post.
In response, Smith said his company is suspending “all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia.” This means the Windows OS, Microsoft’s enterprise software, and the company’s Xbox console will no longer be offered in the Russian market.
Smith didn’t say how the sales stoppage might affect Windows PCs built by third-party vendors. He used the term “new sales” in his announcement, so existing customers of Microsoft’s cloud services and Xbox Live should still receive service. But whether Russian-based users can keep paying for those subscriptions over time was left unsaid.
Smith added that his company is working to comply with the White House sanctions against Russia, which also ban US companies from selling technology to the country’s defense, aerospace, and maritime sectors.
In addition, we are coordinating closely and working in lockstep with the governments of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, and we are stopping many aspects of our business in Russia in compliance with governmental sanctions decisions,” Smith continues.
Microsoft is the latest company to abandon Russia and condemn its attack on Ukraine, following financial sanctions imposed by governments in an effort to isolate it from the rest of the world.
Apple has also stopped sales in Russia, among other changes, as a sign of opposing the nation’s attack on Ukraine.
