Major Cloud Providers Halt New Sales in Russia Over Ukraine Invasion
Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and IBM all suspend new cloud sales in Russia in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Cloudflare, however, maintains its local services to keep the internet accessible.
Major technology companies join the growing list of businesses suspending operations in Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Google, and IBM all formally announce that they are stopping new cloud sales and sign-ups in the country. These actions mirror the recent retreats of other western corporations like McDonald's and Apple.
Each of the top cloud infrastructure vendors takes a slightly different approach to the situation. AWS updates its initial blog post to explicitly state that it stops allowing new sign-ups in both Russia and Belarus. Microsoft president Brad Smith announces a complete suspension of all new Microsoft product and service sales, which includes its Azure cloud platform. Google and IBM similarly confirm that they no longer accept new Russian customers for their cloud services.
Cloudflare takes a different stance from the pure infrastructure providers by choosing to keep its services running inside Russia. The company states that it consults with government and civil society experts before deciding against terminating local internet access. Cloudflare maintains that keeping the internet running in the country remains a critical priority despite external pressure to completely shut down its Russian operations.