EU plans new salvo of sanctions on Russia

Brussels, April 19 (IANS/DPA) The European Union is planning a 14th round of sanctions on Moscow for the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, a senior EU official said on Friday.

The new sanctions package includes punitive measures on individuals and organizations that assist efforts to circumvent existing EU sanctions on Russia, the senior EU official said.

An EU diplomat said the punitive measures should consider oil tankers or the "dark fleet" that transport Russian oil despite existing sanctions in place to hinder this.

New persons and organizations are to be hit with a freeze on their assets in the bloc, according to diplomats. The European Commission is to present proposals for the sanctions in the coming week.

The 13th package of sanctions on Russia was adopted in February on the second anniversary of the war against Ukraine and targeted 106 individuals and 88 organizations.

This included individuals involved in North Korea's supply of arms to Russia and the North Korean defence minister.

Multiple rounds of EU sanctions have been imposed on Russia targeting different sections of the economy that contribute to the Kremlin war on Ukraine.

This extended to import bans on crude oil, coal, steel, gold, and luxury goods as well as well as punitive measures against banks and other financial institutions.

In addition, trade restrictions were imposed on so-called "dual-use goods" that could contribute to the technological development of the Russian defence and security sector.

Work continues on a plan to use a large part of the profits from the safekeeping of frozen Russian central bank funds in the EU to purchase military equipment for Ukraine.

Source: IANS