The Twenty-Seven attack the supply of the Russian war machine.
The ambassadors of EU countries agreed this Wednesday on a new package of sanctions linked to the Russian invasion in Ukraine which targets in particular three Chinese firms suspected of having supplied Putin's army.
This 13th package of sanctions, which comes a few days before the second anniversary of the invasion, plans in particular to limit the trade of EU companies with three mainland Chinese companies having supplied the Kremlin forces engaged in Ukraine.
It also retains the blacklisting of the North Korean defense minister for having sent missiles and shells to Moscow.
Companies from India, Turkey and Serbia have also been targeted for contributing to the Russian war effort.
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The EU blacklist includes more than 2,000 people or entities, according to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for whom the EU is thus maintaining “pressure on the Kremlin”.
“We must continue to degrade Putin’s war machine,” she said on X.
I welcome the agreement on our 13th sanctions package against Russia
⁰We must keep degrading Putin's war machine.
⁰With 2000 listings in total, we keep the pressure high on the Kremlin.
⁰We are also further cutting Russia's access to drones.
https://t.co/AfSxsEUB8x
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 21, 2024
The European sanctions provide for a freeze of assets in the EU and a ban on travel to the territory of the Union for the people concerned.
The latest sanctions must still be definitively adopted by the Twenty-Seven before February 24, the date two years ago of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Also readWar in Ukraine: the freezing of Russian assets, how does it work?
Hungary had for a moment blocked the adoption of this new package of sanctions, but ultimately decided not to veto it.
“I think the European Union is making the wrong decision,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said this week.
“It has been proven that these sanctions packages impact Europe much more than the Russian economy,” he added.
Despite the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States, the Russian economy, almost exclusively focused on war, returned to growth in 2023. Russian economic activity was driven by favorable oil prices. energy, flexible credit conditions and above all domestic demand stimulated by the priority Defense sector.