The European Union countries agree to a new package of sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine

Brussels (AFP) – European Union countries on Wednesday approved a new package of sanctions against Russia The war against Ukraine.

Sweden, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the package includes measures aimed at countering the circumvention of sanctions and listing individuals.

Details of the proceedings will be revealed later this week when the sanctions are officially adopted by written procedure.

The European Union had previously imposed 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Banks, companies and markets — even parts of the sensitive energy sector — have been hit. More than 1,000 officials are subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

Much of the work involved closing loopholes so that goods vital to Putin’s war effort would not be passed through.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive arm, said the new package “will deal another blow to Putin’s war machine through tight export restrictions, targeting entities that support the Kremlin.”

“Our anti-circumvention tool will prevent Russia from getting its hands on sanctioned goods,” she added.

This is the first time that plans to target trade through other countries have been announced, with the exception of sanctions against Iranians who allegedly supply drones to Russia.

Previous sanctions were agreed upon in just a matter of months — too quickly for the EU. But the new measures are becoming increasingly difficult to approve because they harm the economic and political interests of some member states even when they target the Kremlin.

Hungary, for example, said earlier this week that it would not allow EU measures targeting Russia’s state nuclear energy company Rosatom, insisting on the importance of nuclear power to Europe’s security and environmental goals.

Hungary signed new agreements in April to ensure its continued access to Russian energy, in a sign of the country’s continued diplomatic and commercial relations with Moscow that have confused some European leaders amid The war in Ukraine.

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