As the second anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war nears, the European Union (EU) has approved a fresh set of sanctions against Russia. This includes banning nearly 200 additional entities and individuals accused of involvement in war. The sanctions target three companies in China and one in India, The Financial Times reported, without naming them. Belgium which holds the rotational post of EU presidency said on X: “EU Ambassadors just agreed in principle on a 13th package of sanctions in the framework of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine…The package is one of the broadest approved by the EU”. The sanctions come into effect on February 24 that marks the second anniversary of the war. European officials have welcomed the move.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on social media: “I welcome the agreement on our 13th sanctions package against Russia. We must keep degrading Putin’s war machine.”
The sanctions aims at targeting Russian individuals and government organisations. With these 200 people and entities, the sanctions list has risen to 2,000. “With this package, we are taking more action against entities involved in circumvention, the defence and military sectors,” Borrell said on X.
Sanctions have also been imposed on a North Korean and a Belarusian firm, Reuters reported.
The fresh set of sanctions do not contain specific economic sectors. The sanctions imposed so far include sectors related to crude oil, coal, steel, gold and luxury goods. The new sanctions will further enhance trade restrictions.
Recently, US President Joe Biden said that the United States would announce fresh economic restrictions against Russia.
On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched what he called a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. Despite expectations of quickly overrunning the country, Ukraine and Russian forces have been at a war which shows no signs of ending.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the fresh EU sanctions “will truly reduce” Russia’s economic foundation for war against his country. “We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that the sanctions imposed by Europe work globally,” he added.
