The European Union is considering sanctions against 170 individuals and entities involved in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine ahead of the first anniversary of the war, in a package of measures that will impose restrictions on the import of key resources for Russian production and thus damage its industrial capacity.
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After contacts between the Member States and the European Commission in recent days, diplomatic sources consulted by Europa Press indicate that the package is taking shape and will extend the measures against exports to the EU of industrial goods such as asphalt or bitumen, as well as imports of key resources for Russian industrial production such as weapons, trucks, agricultural and forestry vehicles or drones.
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On the table for the tenth round of sanctions is also to strengthen measures to avoid circumventing sanctions, requiring greater control by Member States of confiscated goods, in addition to new sanctions on the Russian banking sector and against Russian gas storage companies.
Among the options would be the veto of Russian nationals in companies related to EU critical infrastructures, another diplomatic source points out.
In any case, the Brussels proposal does not include sanctions on the Russian nuclear sector, one of the most insistent demands of the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, during his European tour last week, but also one of the most divisive among the Member States given the dependence of countries such as France or Bulgaria, which warned that it could veto the new round of restrictions if it targeted nuclear fuel.
Nor is it being considered at this time to apply sanctions to the diamond sector, one of the most divisive issues within the EU and of great economic importance in Belgium. In this regard, a source consulted points out that trade in this sector has fallen by 70% last year due to the commercial disconnection between Russia and the EU, so at this time Europe is not considering sanctions.
Despite the fact that some Member States have lamented the lack of agility of the European Commission, assuring that time is against the EU-27 if they want to approve a new round for the first anniversary of the invasion, other sources consulted point out that the deadline remains intact and as many meetings will be convened at ambassadorial level as necessary to meet the objective.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)