The European Union will also punish the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and his foreign minister, Vladimir Lavrov, for the invasion of Ukraine. Although until now, the Twenty-seven had resisted including their respective names on the list of individuals sanctioned for recognition of the independence of the Ukrainian republics of Donetsk and Luhanskthe full invasion this Thursday in Ukraine has radically changed the situation and everything indicates that they will appear on the list that they plan to approve this Friday EU foreign ministers during another extraordinary meeting.
“Yesterday the European Council discussed it and since there was no consensus, they tasked me with (finding) a solution. We have worked hard and I hope we can reach an agreement. If there are no surprises and no one objects, because we need unanimity, Putin and Lavrov will be on the list”, announced the head of European diplomacy, Joseph Borrell, who has said he is “personally” in favor of sanctioning them. “I think there is a decision, and we support it, to add Putin and Lavrov and I think that is appropriate,” said the Irish minister, simon coveney.
The idea is to freeze the property and assets that both Russian politicians may have in European territory, but not to prohibit their entry to keep diplomatic channels open and the path of negotiation. The high representative for the EU’s common foreign and security policy has admitted that the measure will not be enough and has added that if new sanctions are necessary they will be adopted because “we are facing a total invasion of a country, with bombs, assassination of civilians, confrontation between two armies. It is the worst thing that has happened in Europe since the end of World War II. Nobody knows what will happen next, nobody knows Putin’s true intentions,” said Borrell.
555 individuals and 52 entities
The list of Russian individuals and entities so far sanctioned by the European Union includes a total of 555 individuals and 52 entities. Last Monday the Twenty-Seven decided to incorporate 351 members of the Russian Duma who voted to recognize the secessionist regions as well as 27 individuals and entities involved in this aggression. This list, which already includes the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoiguto Putin’s chief of staff, Antoni Vainoor the spokesperson for the foreign minister, Maria Zakharov, will continue to grow with the incorporation of “several hundred political and economic personalities from Russia & rdquor ;, as confirmed by the French finance minister, Bruno LeMaire.
Before knowing that Putin and Lavrov will also be on the list of punished personalities, Russia has ensured that will respond “symmetrically or asymmetrically” to sanctions imposed by Western countries. The Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskovhas admitted that the sanctions will cause problems for Russia, but can be solvedsince the country has reduced its dependence on foreign imports to protect themselves against this international backlash.
Two rounds of sanctions
The Twenty-seven approved a first package of sanctions last Monday, after recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Given the deterioration of the situation and the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine, European leaders met urgently this Thursday to agree on a second round of sanctions with one goal: isolate and sink economically to the Putin regime. The retaliatory measures, which will be formally approved this Friday by the heads of European diplomacy, aim this time at strategic sectors for Russia as banks, defense, transport or oil.
For example, the EU will ban the export of parts and equipment needed for the modernization of oil refineries, a sector that generated revenue in 2019 worth 24,000 million. The sale of aircraft, spare parts and equipment for Russian aircraft will also be prohibited, which will have a direct impact on connectivity with Russia since three quarters of the commercial air fleet was built in United States, Canada and the European Union.
In addition, the Twenty-seven will restrict access to dual-use technology (civilian and military) such as semiconductors, lasers and key components with the aim of suffocating their industry, they will cut off the financing of public companies in different sectors and the possibility that the Russian State and its central bank is financed on European capital markets, they will limit the possibility of Russian elites holding deposits in European banks and punish two more banks.
“Our goal is to break the Russian economy and break its political and economic leaders. We will hit strategic sectors such as transport, the aeronautical sector, the Russian financial system. We want to hit the Russian banks and we want to financially isolate Russia, cut the ties between Russia and the world financial system & rdquor ;, Le Maire said, in the framework of the informal finance meeting.
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Disagreement over Swift
At the moment, however, there is still no consensus among the Twenty-seven to stop buying gas from Russia or expel the country from the swift international payment system, despite reproaches from Kiev and some European political groups. “In this war everything is real: The madness and cruelty of Putin, the Ukrainian victims, the bombs falling on Kiev. Only his sanctions are fake. The EU governments that blocked tough decisions (for example, Germany, Hungary , Italy) have dishonored themselves”, reproached the president of the EPP, Donald Tusk. “To certain European leaders who still doubt: Russia has launched a horrible war of aggression in Europe: ban Russia from swift and expel it from everywhere”, the Ukrainian minister has claimed. Dmytro Kuleba.