EU to prepare new sanctions against Russia

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU foreign policy chief on Thursday announced that the bloc will prepare new sanctions against Moscow and increase its military support to Ukraine in response to the partial mobilization in Russia.

“We will continue and increase our military support, providing arms to Ukraine and we will study how to adopt new restrictive measures” against Russia, Josep Borrell told reporters following the extraordinary meeting of EU top diplomats on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Borrell convened the reunion after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered partial mobilization on Wednesday and Russian-backed authorities decided a day earlier to hold referendums in four Ukrainian regions to join Russia

He called Putin’s strategy of mobilizing “300,000 soldiers and this reference to nuclear weapons” an “irresponsible, and cynical attempt to undermine” the international peace and security “on an unprecedented scale.”

He stated that Russia’s recent move will not change the EU’s determination “to stand by Ukraine and our comprehensive support to Ukraine's ability to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty as long as it takes.”

He confirmed that the EU will continue to finance weapon delivery to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility.

Without revealing concrete details, Borrell explained that the EU officials “will study a new package of sanctions that will affect new parts of the Russian economy to complete the technological ones” and affect new individuals as well.

According to the Politico news outlet, the sanctions plan includes limiting the price of Russian oil and banning the import of Russian luxury goods.

EU ambassadors are expected to discuss the details on Friday.

Since the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the bloc has provided a total of €2.5 billion ($2.5 billion) in military aid, including lethal weapons, as well as personal protective gear, first aid kits, and fuel.

It has also imposed seven sanctions packages, targeting, among others, Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, banning gold, oil, and coal imports, and the export of luxury goods and high-tech technology, as well as excluding Russian and Belarusian banks from the SWIFT international payment system.