The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a ninth package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine that would include nearly 200 other people and entities on the EU’s sanctions list.
Commission Chair Ursula von der Leyen said she supported new sanctions against three more Russian banks and new export controls and restrictions, especially for dual-use goods such as key chemicals, nerve agents and electronic and computer components.
He added that the eight sanctions packages presented by the European Union so far are already harsh, and the Union now wants to increase pressure on Russia with the ninth package.
The sanctions require unanimous support from all 27 member states of the bloc, but most of the measures proposed in the first eight packages were approved by the representative European Council within weeks, although some were abandoned or watered down.
The eighth package passed on October 5 included more trade restrictions and targeted more individuals.
Von der Leyen said the new individuals and entities proposed for the sanctions list include the Russian military, as well as defense officers and individual industries, members of the State Duma of the Russian parliament and the Federal Council, ministers, governors and political parties.
“This list includes key figures in Russia’s brutal and deliberate missile attacks on civilians, the kidnapping of Ukrainian children in Russia, and the theft of Ukrainian agricultural products,” he said.
The commission also proposed sanctions against three other Russian banks, including a blanket ban on transactions at Russia’s Regional Development Bank for “disrupting Putin’s ATMs”.
The commission said it also aims to limit Russia’s access to drones and unmanned aerial vehicles and ban the direct export of drone engines to Russia and any third country, such as Iran, that could supply drones to Russia.
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