30.09.2022.

EU proposes new sanctions package to ‘make Kremlin pay’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tonight announced a fresh round of proposed sanctions on Russia.

The new package of Russia sanctions is designed “to make the Kremlin pay” for escalating the conflict in Ukraine through mobilisation and “sham referenda that are an illegal attempt to grab land and change international borders by force”, she said. 

The proposed eighth sanctions package includes further import bans on Russian products, expected to deprive Moscow of an additional €7 billion in revenues.

The EU will also extend export bans on key technology used for the military such as aviation items, electronic components and specific chemical substances. This will “weaken its capacity to modernise” Russia’s military base, she said.

The sanctions package will lay the legal basis for an oil price cap and ban EU citizens from sitting on governing bodies of Russian state-owned companies, she said.

EU High Representative Josep Borrell said the package would also include further restrictive measures against individuals, including those who organised and facilitated the sham “referenda” in the four occupied areas of Ukraine, as well as officials in the defence sector in response to Russia’s latest escalation through the mobilisation of 300,000 soldiers.

Speaking to reporters, von der Leyen said: “We do not accept the sham referenda and any kind of annexation in Ukraine, and we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation.”