The European Union on Wednesday approved an initial package of sanctions against Russia in reaction to President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of the independence of two breakaway regions in Ukraine, after months of tension after the Kremlin deployed more than 100 thousand soldiers in different points of the border with the country.
The package had already been unanimously approved by the ministers of foreign affairs of the 27 member countries on Tuesday (22), but it still needed to be confirmed by the respective ambassadors, which took place this Wednesday.
The sanctions impact the 351 members of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, which endorsed Putin’s decision – for now, the president is off the list. They are banned from traveling to EU countries and have had EU assets frozen.
The retaliation package also affects 27 entities and individuals who, according to the bloc, participated “in the threat to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”. In this group are members of the government; banks and executives who provided financial and material support to operations in the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk; military officials and individuals “responsible for leading the disinformation war against Ukraine”.
Sanctions include freezing assets, suspending project financing and fundraising, and banning travel to countries in the bloc.
The new measures also restrict the breakaway regions’ trade with the European Union, as well as access to investment, and a ban on the export of goods and technologies. The Russian government will also have restricted access to the European capital market.
Although it was unanimously approved on Tuesday, the members faced chess to decide the tone of the package, as there are members of the bloc closer to Moscow who preferred something more limited. Others wanted to see a broad and tough response, based on what has been discussed in recent weeks.
Italy, for example, which depends on Russian gas, argued that the sanctions would not impact energy imports — Putin assured that he would maintain supplies to world markets — while Lithuania argued that they could not be symbolic and Poland upped the ante. , advocating that they extend to the Russian president.
The adoption of more lenient measures, however, is part of a strategy adopted by Westerners to be able to toughen them if the crisis worsens. The bloc’s head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said on Tuesday that this was part of the answer, and the UK has already said it has more sanctions in place, even if it is outside the bloc.
More sanctions are already in place. According to the American newspaper New York Times, on Thursday (24) the bloc is expected to announce measures against officials in Putin’s inner circle and against Russian media executives.
The newspaper says it had access to the document that lists the sanctions that will be announced on Thursday. The package includes Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as Putin’s chief of staff Anton Vaino, the American newspaper says. The director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, as well as Margarita Simonian, head of the Russian television network RT, also enter. The European Union must classify Russian media executives as propaganda agents, the paper says.
Russian executive Ievgeni Prigozhin, close to Putin and leader of the paramilitary organization Wagner Group, is also expected to be included in the list, as are members of his family. Sanctions include a travel ban to the European Union and an asset freeze. In addition to the individuals targeted for retaliation, the document also lists the ban on imports of dozens of goods and services and the ban on financing Russian operations on the European capital market, says the New York Times. According to the newspaper, the list was prepared in coordination with US authorities.
In addition to the bloc’s sanctions, Germany reacted individually on Tuesday by freezing the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which connects Russia to the European country and is ready, but unable to operate due to the crisis in Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 is the second branch of a mega-project started in the 2000s. It doubles the capacity to transport natural gas across the Baltic Sea, enabling Russia to divert supplies that today are mostly made through Ukraine and the turbulent allied dictatorship Belarus. .
Russia played down the impact of the decision, with Deputy Chancellor Andrei Rudenko saying Moscow had nothing to fear and “doesn’t believe in tears”, according to the Tass news agency.
The measure does not yet affect energy supply, according to the European Commission itself, since the pipeline was not operational. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday that supplies were guaranteed, but that there could be a price increase in the short term, which has already occurred. The value rose 9.2% to 78.5 euros per megawatt hour.
In view of this, French President Emmanuel Macron’s spokesman announced that the government has taken strong measures to freeze the price of gas, which had been on the rise for about a year in the country. “We have blocked the price of gas and we will continue to block the increase in the price of gas, of course,” said Gabriel Attal. “The second thing that was remembered this morning by Bruno Le Maire [ministro da Economia] is that we are much less dependent on Russian gas than other countries.”
Germany, the continent’s biggest economy, depends on Russia for about half of its energy needs.
European bloc leaders have scheduled an emergency summit for Thursday to discuss next steps. “It is important that we remain united and determined and jointly define our approach and collective actions,” said EU Council head Charles Michel.
According to him, the meeting’s agenda will include discussing “how we protect the rules-based international order; how we deal with Russia, notably holding Russia accountable for its actions; how we will further support Ukraine and its people.”
