The European Union has agreed on a new round of sanctions targeting senior Russian officials and oligarchs in reprisals for that of Moscow military transaction in neighboring Ukraine, France declared on Wednesday.
the new the penalties will be also include restrictions on the maritime sector and exclude three Belarusian banks from the SWIFT systemFrance banking system, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Council, said in a series of tweets. Additional sanctions will be formally approved by the leaders of the 27 member states of the bloc at a summit in Versailles, France, on Thursday and Friday.
EU Abroad policy Chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday that governments were preparing a new round of Travel bans and asset freezes on a hundred Russians.
“Member States are working on a package of penalties, about 100 people responsible at different levels of government”, Borrell told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He said he hoped for agreement “at the end of this session today”, without giving more details.
More than 2 millions people fled Ukraine and hundreds of thousands have been left trapped without access medicine or fresh water since President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion almost two weeks ago.
Moscow qualifies son act of “special military operation “to disarm son neighbor and dislodge leaders he describes as “neo-Nazis”. Kyiv and its Western allies reject this as a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war against a democratic country of 44 millions people.
the new sanctions were agreed at a so-called COREPER II meeting, which brings together the permanent representatives of each member state to the bloc, before of the top.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday imposed an immediate ban on Russian imports of oil and other energy sources in reprisals for the invasion.
Russia warned earlier this week that oil prices could soar up for over $300 a barrel if the US and EU banned imports of crude from Russia.
Russia says Europe consumes about 500 millions tons of oil one year. Russia provides about 30% of that is 150 millions tons, as well as 80 millions tons of petrochemicals.
