EU proposes more sanctions against Russia
The EU proposed banning coal imports from Russia and a series of new sanctions after Moscow was accused of committing “war crimes” in Ukraine.
“We have all seen terrible images in Bucha and areas from which Russian troops have recently withdrawn. These actions will not be ignored,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today, referring to the proposal of new sanctions against Russia.
Ms. von der Leyen said that under this proposal, coal worth 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) from Russia would be banned from entering Europe. European businesses will have three months to gradually reduce imports of Russian coal, before new contracts are completely banned.
The European Commission also proposes to ban Russian ships from entering ports of the European Union (EU). The new sanctions also completely ban transactions with four key Russian banks, including the country’s second largest bank, VTB. The proposed sanctions will need to be ratified by EU member states.
“Four packs punishment previously applied have heavily influenced and limited the economic – political options of Russia. Before the events that happened, we needed to increase the pressure even more,” she said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (left) and the EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy Josep Borrell in Brussels, Belgium on February 27. Photo: Reuters.
The EU will ban the trucking operators of Russia and Belarus and ban the sale of quantum computers, advanced semiconductors, sensitive machinery and transport equipment worth 10 billion euros a year to Russia. The bloc of 27 countries will stop importing timber, cement, seafood and wine from Russia, with a total value of about 5.5 billion euros.
Russia will also be removed from the list of public procurement tenders in the countries of the union, and more Russians are listed on the EU asset freeze list and are not allowed to enter the EU.
The alliance has no plans to sanction Russia’s oil and gas yet, despite great pressure, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. However, the issue is deeply dividing EU countries over the next step, and some member states are pushing to signal that the bloc will reduce oil imports from Russia.
A senior EU official said one option for the scenario of banning Russian oil is to gradually reduce supply from Moscow and use Europe’s strategic oil reserves to reduce the impact.
Some governments, including Germany and Hungary, oppose extending sanctions to Russia’s energy sector, but accusations of “war crimes” in the town of Bucha on the outskirts of Kiev have prompted some Eastern European members push to strengthen this measure. EU leaders have endorsed Russia’s goal of ending dependence on fossil fuels by 2027.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian forces of “massacre” of civilians in the town of Bucha. He said more than 300 people were killed in the town during the time Russian forces controlled Bucha.
About 410 bodies have been collected so far in villages and towns in the Kiev province, of which prosecutors and experts have examined 140 bodies, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, called these “important pieces of evidence about Russian war crimes”.
However, the Kremlin denied the allegation of killing civilians in Bucha, calling it “fake news” aimed at smearing Russia. Moscow vowed to present evidence that the Russian military was not involved in the incident at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council today.
Thanh Tam (According to Reuters, Bloomberg)
at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
