The ambassadors of the Twenty-seven will resume negotiations today to approve, in time for the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, the tenth package of sanctions against Russia.
The new round of restrictive measures is designed to, through export restrictions valued at 10 billion euros, cause damage to Russia's technology and military sector, but will not include the Russian nuclear sector or the diamond business, as yesterday The Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, Yulia Sviridenko, who traveled to Brussels to participate in the meeting of the committee of permanent representatives and try to persuade them on the need to go further, urged them to do so.
"We must strengthen the sanctions policy because the war is still going on," defended Svirídenko before meeting with the European ambassadors, whom he asked for "a clear message" from the European Union and about the Russian nuclear industry and specifically about Rosatom , which controls the Zaporizhia plant, the largest in Europe, located in occupied Ukraine. "Otherwise the Russians are going to continue to act like a terrorist state," he insisted.
The possibility of acting against the Russian nuclear industry or the lucrative diamond business, as Kyiv also claims, continues to meet with the reluctance of countries such as Hungary, which depends on Russia to maintain its nuclear sector, France, Bulgaria and Belgium, who continue to vehemently oppose the idea. The Baltics, especially Lithuania, continue to campaign in the EU to take the plunge and punish Rosatom.
In addition to the new restrictions on trade between the EU and Russia, which will affect around 47 electronic components for missiles, drones and helicopters, the document currently being discussed by the capitals foresees measures to prevent evasion of sanctions and better monitor their application, for example, forcing banks to publish information on detected assets, as well as initiatives to use frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine.
The approval of the sanctions requires unanimity. Until now it has always been achieved and the EU is committed to reaching an agreement today that would be made official tomorrow, one year after the invasion. The biggest obstacles come, once again, from Budapest. The proposal also expands the number of people affected by sanctions for their cooperation with the war. The Hungarian delegation has asked to withdraw some names and is also opposed to the proposal that the renewal of the sanctions, which until now has been done every six months, become valid annually.
As announced by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, they have also proposed punishing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and other entities for the first time for providing Russia with drones and other technologies for military use. Brussels also plans to apply the same sanctions to this country as to Russia in terms of sensitive or dual-use technologies, a measure that aims to discourage international companies and intermediaries from participating in these operations.
