Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are on the list of people sanctioned by the European Union.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are on the list of people sanctioned by the European Union in response to the invasion of Ukraine, European Foreign Minister Josep Borrell announced on Friday.
“It’s an important step. The only leaders in the world sanctioned by the EU are Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and therefore now Putin for Russia,” Josep Borrell said during a meeting. ‘a press conference.
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He was speaking after a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Twenty-Seven which formally approved an unprecedented package of sanctions against Russia announced Thursday evening by European heads of state and government.
The sanctions on Vladimir Putin and Sergei Lavrov are “the same” as those provided for the other personalities mentioned on this European blacklist, including “the freezing of assets”, explained Mr. Borrell.
London is also planning “imminent” sanctions against the head of the Kremlin and his foreign minister.
All members of the Duma, the lower house of parliament, are now on the EU list, along with 26 business figures. Sanctioned individuals are also prohibited from entering European territory.
“I could never overemphasize the seriousness of the situation,” said Mr Borrell, calling the sanctions package “the toughest ever implemented”. He stressed that the EU could still take further retaliatory measures if necessary, but “for now we must focus our efforts on implementing” what has already been decided.
The EU has decided to drastically limit Russia’s access to European capital markets, hampering and increasing the cost of financing its debt. It will also reduce the country’s access to crucial technologies, by depriving it of electronic components and software, in such a way as to seriously penalize its economy.
It will be prohibited to export to Russia aircraft, parts and equipment of the aeronautical and space industry, as well as refining technologies for the oil industry. These restrictions will also affect dual-use goods (civilian and military).
EU banks will be banned from accepting deposits from Russian citizens of more than 100,000 euros and several Russian state companies will be blocked from accessing European funding.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had called for blocking Russia’s access to the Swift banking messaging system to financially isolate it from the rest of the world, like Iran did in late 2019. Some 300 Russian banks and institutions use Swift for their interbank funds transfers.
But it was not followed. Member States are slowing down, including Germany, very dependent on Russian gas for its supply, which prefers to consider it for later.
“This question has been considered (but) for the moment there has not been the necessary unanimity, so it is not in the package”, declared Josep Borrell, stressing that this measure remained “a possibility” for the future.
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