Bloomberg: EU discusses sanctions against Usmanov, Fridman, Mordashov and Roldugin

The European Union is considering imposing sanctions on the richest Russians and heads of Russian companies in connection with the military operation in Ukraine, reports Bloomberg.

According to the agency, the list has not yet been finalized and may change. Bloomberg writes that now it includes Alisher Usmanov, Mikhail Fridman, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alfa Bank Petr Aven, the main owner of Severstal Alexei Mordashov. In addition, sanctions could be imposed on the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, as well as a number of state media representatives whom the EU accuses of spreading disinformation, the agency writes. The proposed list also includes cellist Sergei Roldugin.

In addition, according to Bloomberg, restrictive measures are being considered against the heads of leading state-owned companies and the military, many of whom are already on US sanctions lists. In particular, the proposed list includes the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, and the head of Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in the Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

You can follow the chronicle of events around Ukraine on February 28 here.