The Heads of State and Government of the European Union have agreed on a new battery of sanctions against Russia after more than five hours of meeting as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, although they have chosen not to deploy all the options yet. A) Yes, already exploring the scope of future sanctions and the requirements for its activation.
At the end of the meeting, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyenhas detailed that the new “massive and targeted” sanctions package focuses on five pillars: the financial sector, energy, transport, export controls and the prohibition of export financing and visa policy.
Thus, they include financial sanctions affecting 70% of the banking market Russian and key state-owned companies, also in the defense sector. In turn, Von der Leyen has indicated, he points to the russian eliterestricting their deposits so that “they cannot hide their money in safe havens in Europe”.
In addition, Von der Leyen has specified that the prohibition of exports will affect the Russian oil sector making it impossible to improve its refineries. In addition, the sale of aircraft and equipment is prohibited to Russian airlines.
As detailed by Von der Leyen, also Moscow’s access to “crucial” technology will be limited, such as semiconductors or next-generation software. Finally, the sanctions will also affect the visasso that Russian diplomats and businessmen will no longer have “privileged access” to the European Union.
“We will hold the Kremlin to account”stated the President of the European Commission during her speech at the joint press conference she offered with the President of the Council, Charles Michel, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
future sanctions
Diplomatic sources cited by the Efe agency point out that, after reaching a consensus on the content of the second package of sanctions agreed this Thursday – which is added to those already approved on Tuesday by the Russian recognition of independence of the breakaway republics – the leaders’ debate has focused on future restrictive measures.
All have agreed to adopt a “gradual approach” when approving new sanctions and do not bring out all the artillery yetsince it is not known how events on Ukrainian territory may evolve after information on the ground about Russian troops surrounding the capital, Kiev.
The debate at the summit table was therefore about the content of future sanctions packages, when and how events should unfold to activate each restrictive measure, among which some countries propose the exclusion of Russia from the system SWIFT or the inclusion in the sanctioned list of the Russian oligarchs or President Vladimir Putin himself.
They have also discussed contingency plans to deal with the impact of the invasion on energy prices, that worries countries highly dependent on Russian gas such as Bulgaria, and how the European Union will be able to contain the rise in prices given that winter on the continent has not yet ended.
In addition, community leaders have had a telematic conversation with the Ukrainian president, VolodÃmir Zelenski, who has conveyed his request for their help in dealing with the invasion.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
