New EU sanctions package to target Russian military, tech firms for war anniversary
The EU is expected to hit more Russian military and tech firms, including firms shipping ammunition from North Korea, as part of a new package of measures to mark two years since Russia invaded Ukraine.
EU ambassadors received the proposal text for the bloc’s 13th package of sanctions from the European Commission and the EU’s diplomatic service (EEAS) on Thursday (8 February) and had a first discussion on its contents.
It will include new listings of persons and entities and look “at the efficiency of our measures, based on the constant learnings from the battlefields”, a Belgian presidency source said.
Russian military, tech firms
Among those are about 55 entities and more than 60 individuals as part of a new package of measures to mark two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, according to a draft document seen by Euractiv.
Among them are individuals and companies involved in producing weapons and supplying key technologies and electronics used by the Russian defence industry to build weapons for the battlefield.
This also includes shipping companies that have provided transportation and logistics to transfer ammunition to Russia from North Korea after the latter had provided Moscow with hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds that have tilted the balance on the battlefield.
According to a draft document, the current proposals also add several military and other officials, politicians and company directors to the sanctions listings.
No new sectorial sanctions
However, the new sanctions proposal will not add new import bans, such as new EU embargoes on Russian metals, liquid gas, or nuclear firms.
Despite calls from some EU member states to ban more Russian exports like aluminium, the European Commission proposes a package it hopes will cause minimal debate among member states so it passes quickly.
“We need to move faster this time than with the last package, also to send a message to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” one EU diplomat said.
“As always: There isn’t much point in measuring these packages against each other, as the room to do more is increasingly small,” a second EU diplomat added.
Anniversary package and then?
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament earlier this week on Tuesday (6 February) that the next sanction round would be enforced by the “symbolic” date of 24 February.
“Without wishing to get bogged down in an agenda, the ideal scenario is to get this package approved by the second anniversary of the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” a third EU diplomat said.
EU member states are expected to send comments before the end of this week, and the bloc’s ambassadors are scheduled to debate the proposal in detail next week.
Eastern proposals
Read more with Euractiv
