BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will tighten its sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus, and finance the purchase of arms for Ukraine to support it against the Russian military invasion on its territory, a announced on Sunday the President of the European Commission.
“For the first time, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of arms and other equipment to a country under attack,” Ursula von der Leyen told a press conference.
Ursula von der Leyen also said the EU would close its airspace to Russian planes, including private jets owned by the oligarchs.
The Russia Today television channel and the Sputnik news agency will be banned from the community bloc to prevent the dissemination of “their lies intended to justify Vladimir Putin’s war and to sow division in our Union”, said Ursula von der Leyen.
These measures are in addition to a series of sanctions unveiled on Saturday against Moscow, including the exclusion of several Russian banks from the SWIFT interbank network as well as sanctions targeting the foreign currency reserves of the Russian central bank.
The EU is also toughening its stance against Belarus by banning imports of products from its most important sectors, from hydrocarbons to tobacco, including wood, cement, iron and steel.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who spoke at the same press conference indicated that the ministers of the Twenty-Seven would examine in the evening the proposal to use common funds to finance weapons, fuel and medical supplies for Ukraine.
A source within the Commission told Reuters that the EU intended to spend 450 million euros on the purchase of arms for Ukraine and an additional 50 million euros for other supplies, including medical supplies.
(Report Sabine Siebold, Philip Blenkinsop, French version Laetitia Volga)