The European Commission has officially proposed for approval by the member states the tenth package of sanctions against Russia in connection with the aggressive war against Ukraine.
This was reported in the addresses of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the High Representative of the EU, Josep Borrell.
Von der Leyen noted that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is not only waging a brutal war on the battlefield, but also viciously attacking civilians, so he must pay for it.
"First, we are proposing further export bans worth more than 11 billion euros to deprive the Russian economy of critical technologies and manufactured goods," she said.
Yes, the EU is targeting many manufactured goods that Russia needs and cannot get from other countries such as China. These include electronics, specialized vehicles, machine and engine parts, spare parts for trucks and jet engines, as well as goods for the construction sector that can be used by the Russian military, such as antennas or cranes.
"Secondly, we will continue to limit the export of dual-purpose goods and advanced technologies. We offer export control of 47 components that can be used in Russian weapons systems, including drones, missiles, helicopters," said the president of the European Commission.
In addition, for the first time in history, the EU decided to add structures of third countries, which are used by Russia to circumvent sanctions.
So, Iran's Revolutionary Guard provides Russia with Shahed drones to attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Therefore, the EU adds seven Iranian organizations to the list. The bloc is ready to continue imposing sanctions against countries that supply Russia with important technologies.
In addition, the EU is introducing sanctions against the Russian propaganda machine. The EU proposes to include Putin's propagandists in the sanctions list at the same level as the political and military leaders of Russia. It is about more than 100 new names on the list.
The European Union is also introducing new measures to prevent circumvention of sanctions.
"We will track oligarchs who are trying to hide or sell their assets to avoid sanctions. And together with member states, we will create an overview of all frozen Russian central bank assets held in the EU. We need to know where they are located and how much they are worth. This is extremely important in view of the possible use of Russian state assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine," von der Leyen said.
She called on member states to quickly adopt this new package of sanctions. The aim, she said, is to work with G7 partners to introduce further significant sanctions by February 24 - exactly a year after Putin launched his imperial war.
