EU plans most far-reaching sanctions against Russia
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The European Union intends to significantly expand sanctions against Russia in the coming months over its war in Ukraine, according to the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.
EU sanctions have already cost Russia dearly, depriving Russia’s war machine of over €1 trillion ($A1.6) trillion, Kallas said.
“I am putting forward the most far-reaching sanctions listings since the start of the war,” she told German newspaper Die Welt.
“Once adopted, they would immediately raise the total number of sanctioned Russian entities by a third. The pressure must keep growing until Moscow ends its war,” said Kallas, who leads the European External Action Service (EEAS) – the EU’s diplomatic service.
She did not elaborate on timing or details of the new designation.
But EU diplomatic sources later told Reuters the EEAS would propose about 1600 individuals and entities based in Russia and focused on Moscow’s military-industrial complex.
The designations will include travel and transaction bans as well as asset freezes, they added.
The EU has already listed nearly 3000 people and companies.
The EEAS is expected to present the new list to EU countries in early September with an aim to adopt it in October, the sources added.
EU sanctions must be approved unanimously.
Traditional EU packages against Russia, which combine sectoral measures and full designations, have frequently become dogged by lengthy disputes.
During negotiations for the latest package, Greece raised an issue over a forthcoming ban on Russian liquefied natural gas transfers.
The package was approved in July, imposing curbs on the country’s banking sector and cryptocurrency networks.
The EEAS also expects to propose more listings in September on those involved in trafficking Ukrainian children under the framework of human rights violations.
And later in the year, more designations related to Russia’s hybrid activities such as cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.
Reuters