Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen says they will add nearly 200 more people, companies and organizations to the sanctions list. Three other Russian banks are also subject to sanctions.
Among those now affected are the daughters and a cousin of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, writes German Bild who refers to Kadyrov as “Putin’s bloodhound”.
– The third point is to cut off Russia’s access to drones, both directly and through third-country suppliers such as Iran, writes von der Leyen Chirping.
It also proposes to expand export controls on products that can be used for both civilian and military purposes and that can be used by the “Russian war machine”.
– We are also persecuting the Russian propaganda apparatus by proposing to ban four more channels and we are proposing various economic measures against the Russian energy and mining industry, von der Leyen says again.
– We are on the side of Ukraine and want to make sure that Russia pays for its evil, he emphasizes.
Ambassadors from EU countries have started drafting the proposal sent on Wednesday. The sanctions package needs to be adopted by all 27 member states before it can enter into force.
This week, the EU also introduced a price cap of $60 a barrel for oil imported from Russia and banned all such imports by sea. Diplomats have warned that the EU is running out of opportunities to hit Russia’s economy any more than it already does.
