EU unveils fourth set of sanctions against Russia

The European Union (EU) will suspend the privileged commercial and economic treatment of Russia, will take measures against its use of crypto assets and will prohibit exports to that country of luxury goods and the import of iron and steel products, announced the head of the Commission European.

The new measures mark a fourth set of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, coordinated with the United States and other G7 allies.

“Tomorrow we will take a fourth package of measures to further isolate Russia and drain the resources it uses to finance this barbaric war,” said Ursula von der Leyen.

Together with other Western allies, such as the United States, the bloc will revoke Russia’s “most favored nation” trade status. This would open the door for the bloc to ban or impose punitive tariffs on Russian goods and equate Moscow with North Korea or Iran.

As a first step, the EU will ban imports of products from the iron and steel sector.

Von der Leyen stated that Russia’s rights as a member of major multilateral institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, would be suspended.

“Russia cannot grossly violate international law and at the same time expect to benefit from the privileges of being part of the international economic order,” he said.

The G7 allies will try next week to coordinate the persecution of Putin’s “cronies” and will work to ensure that Russia and its elites cannot use crypto assets to circumvent sanctions.

Specifically, the EU will ban exports of luxury goods to Russia, dealing a blow to Russian elites. Lastly, the bloc will ban new European investment in Russia’s energy sector.

“This ban will cover all investments, technology transfers, financial services, etc. for energy exploration and production, and therefore it will have a big impact on Putin,” von der Leyen said.

EU goods imports from Russia amounted to 145 billion euros ($158.7 billion) in 2019, according to the EU statistics office Eurostat, of which 101 billion euros were for oil and gas.