EU approves new sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine

BRUSSELS – The EU agreed a new round of sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine on Friday, the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Moscow, the bloc’s Swedish presidency said.

The package – the 10th imposed by the EU since invading Russia on February 24, 2022 – includes “targeted restrictive measures against individuals and entities that support the war, spread propaganda or supply drones used by Russia in the war”.

Final approval of the sanctions was expected early Saturday if no EU country issues a final objection.

The details of the persons and organizations listed are then published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

An EU diplomat told AFP that 120 individuals and organizations and three other Russian banks were listed.

The EU’s actions mirrored sanctions announced by the United States and Britain on Friday, and followed a G7 statement that warned of penalties for any country supporting Russia in its war.

Another EU diplomat said the agreement on sanctions was “not a compromise” on a proposal put to member states by the European Commission.

The proposed package promised to cut off 11 billion euros ($12 billion) worth of manufactured goods from Russia and to attack drone makers in Iran, whose unmanned aerial vehicles with warheads Moscow is using to attack Ukrainian targets.

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had said the goods sanctioned for Russia would include electronics and machine parts that can be used in Russian drones, missiles, helicopters and other weapon systems.

She had said that seven Iranian facilities supplying dual-use products to Russia were also included in the commission’s sanctions proposal.

The EU has already imposed nine waves of unprecedented sanctions on Moscow, hitting key Russian exports like oil, in a bid to drain Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest.

Several EU diplomats had told AFP that complaints from Poland had delayed agreement on the latest sanctions because Warsaw considered them insufficient.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday during his visit to Kiev before the EU sanctions agreement was announced that the proposals from Brussels were “too soft, too weak”.