The European Union, in accordance with its promise to increase pressure on Moscow “until Ukraine is liberated”, adopted the tenth package of sanctions against Russia on Saturday, a day after the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.
“We now have the most far-reaching sanctions ever, depleting Russia’s war arsenal and cutting deeply into that country’s economy,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter, adding that the European bloc had stepped up pressure on anyone trying to circumvent EU sanctions.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borelj, warned that the EU will continue to impose additional sanctions on Moscow.
“We will continue to increase the pressure on Russia and we will work on it as long as necessary, until Ukraine is freed from brutal Russian aggression,” he said in a statement.
Borelj said that the latest sanctions are aimed at the banking sector, access to technology that can be used for civilian and military purposes, and advanced technology.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the new punitive measures as “strong new steps against the military, industry and financial sector of the terrorist state.”
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova stated that her inclusion in the list “violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all other international legal acts concerning human rights”.
The new package of EU sanctions includes a ban on the export of electronic components used in Russian weapons systems, such as drones, missiles, helicopters, as well as specific “rare earth” materials, electronic integrated circuits and thermal cameras.
It will also impose stricter export restrictions on another 96 entities that support the Russian military and industrial complex, including for the first time seven Iranian entities that manufacture military drones used by Moscow.
Additional restrictions have been introduced on the import of goods that bring significant revenue to Russia, such as asphalt and synthetic rubber.
The EU imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and seven entities linked to the Wagner Group, whose mercenaries are fighting in Ukraine but are also involved in conflicts in African countries, such as Mali.
(Reuters)
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