Photo: Dimitar Kyosemarliev, Dnes.bg
Adopting its tenth package of sanctions against Russia, the European Union said it would step up pressure on Moscow “until Ukraine is freed,” Reuters reported.
“We now have the harshest sanctions yet – depleting Russia’s military arsenal and wreaking havoc on its economy,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter, stressing that the bloc was stepping up pressure on those who trying to circumvent EU sanctions.
The EU’s foreign policy and security chief, Josep Borrell, warned that the union would continue to impose more sanctions on Moscow.
“We will continue to increase pressure on Russia and will do so for as long as necessary until Ukraine is freed from brutal Russian aggression,” he said in a statement.
Borrell noted that the latest sanctions target the banking sector, Moscow’s access to technologies that can be used for civilian and military purposes, as well as advanced technologies.
The EU also imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and seven legal entities associated with the Wagner group, whose mercenaries are fighting in Ukraine but are also involved in conflicts in African countries such as Mali.
Borrell said that Wagner’s activities threaten international peace and security because the company does not operate within any legal framework.
Among those included in the “black list” are two of the group’s commanders who took an active part in the capture of the Ukrainian city of Soledar last month, as well as the head of “Wagner” in Mali, the EU said in a statement.
The head of the private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, admitted that the measures would make its job more difficult as it would make it more difficult to procure weapons, but expressed confidence that it would cope.
“Of course, this will make it difficult because we will not be able to use the necessary amount of European weapons systems. We are already used to NATO-type weapons. It is even more useful in times of shortage of ammunition. Now these purchases will be complicated, but we have enough good channels for communication with European producers, said Prigozhin in a comment published in “Telegram” by his press office. /Desislava Ivanova, BTA/
