“Ten EU countries have proposed imposing further sanctions on Russian trade, including trade in metals such as aluminum,” the agency said in a statement, citing a letter it had obtained.
The proposal to expand sanctions was signed by Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Finland and Romania. Reuters claims that the EU will propose a new sanctions package as early as January next year. It is expected to be adopted in February.
At the same time, according to one of the agency’s interlocutors, the EU may impose tariffs on Russian metals instead of sanctions – this does not require the unanimous support of all EU members, so the introduction of duties may be an alternative solution.
On Monday, the EU Council, at the level of the heads of the EU foreign ministries, finally approved a new package of economic and personal sanctions against Russia, which are mainly aimed at the so-called “fight against the circumvention of European restrictions”.
The West has increased sanctions pressure on Russia because of Ukraine, which has led to an increase in prices for electricity, fuel and food in Europe and the United States. Since the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has already introduced 14 packages of sanctions against Russia.
After the introduction of the 14th package of anti-Russian sanctions by the EU in June of this year, more than two thousand individuals and organizations are under European restrictions because of Ukraine. EU citizens and companies are prohibited from providing funds to persons on the sanctions lists. Individuals are additionally subject to a travel ban, which does not allow them to enter the European Union or cross the EU territory in transit. The EU has anti-Russian sanctions regimes for “violation of and threat to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” (a block of personal sanctions), “undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine” (economic sectoral sanctions), “for the internal situation in Russia”. Russian defendants are also listed within the EU global regimes for “proliferation and use of chemical weapons”, “human rights violations”, “cybercrimes”. In October of this year, the EU Council approved a new regime of anti-Russian sanctions for allegedly “destabilizing actions abroad”. In total, the EU already has more than 40 different sanctions regimes.
The Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the country will cope with the sanctions pressure that the West began to exert on Russia several years ago and continues to intensify. Moscow noted that the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of sanctions against the Russian Federation. In the Western countries themselves, opinions have repeatedly been voiced that anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously stated that the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy of the West, and sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. According to him, the West’s main goal is to worsen the lives of millions of people. In Western countries themselves, opinions have repeatedly been voiced that sanctions are ineffective.