The heads of diplomacy of the European Union (EU) meet this Monday to discuss the new package of sanctions against Russia, aimed at preventing evasion of restrictive measures and ultimately covering third countries that are supporting Moscow .
The debate comes after the European Commission sent Member States a proposal on the 11th package of sanctions against Russia in early May, which has been discussed ever since in Coreper (acronym for Committee of Permanent Representatives). of the EU). Member States, that is, the ambassadors of the 27).
Despite not having been officially presented to the press, the proposal includes combating the evasion of EU sanctions, said the president of the community executive, Ursula von der Leyen, during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, admitting an appeal of “last resort” mechanism. ” to cover third countries that help Russia.
Like the previous 10 sanctions packages, this one too will need to be unanimous among all 27 EU member states to pass.
According to European sources, the proposal aims to expand the lists of people and entities covered by the restrictive measures to prohibit third countries from helping Russia to intentionally circumvent EU sanctions, which could be at stake for companies from China, the Emirates United Arabs, Uzbekistan, Syria and Iran.
In addition, according to the same sources, the proposal seeks to expand the lists of items subject to restrictions for the control of consignments in transit through Russia, such as high-tech products and aircraft parts, as well as restrictions on the sale of certain items to certain third countries where there is a risk that they will be used to circumvent the rules.
There are also new bans on the import of Russian oil and also on the access of Russian ships considered suspicious (for containing sanctioned products) to EU ports.
The EU imposed sanctions on Russia in response to the war of aggression launched against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, and the illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine.
The sanctions already in force include specific restrictive measures (individual sanctions), economic sanctions and visa measures and are added to the measures imposed on Russia since 2014, after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and the non-application of the Minsk agreements ( on conflict in eastern Ukraine between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists).
The purpose of the economic sanctions is to bring serious consequences to Russia for its actions and effectively impede Moscow’s ability to continue the military offensive against Ukraine.
Individual sanctions are directed at persons responsible for supporting, financing or carrying out actions that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, or who benefit from such actions.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
Source: TSF
