The leaders of the 27 countries of the European Union unanimously decided to extend the economic sanctions against Russia. About this on your Twitter reported the head of the EU Council Charles Michel.
He also warned that the Kremlin will face serious consequences if Russia “takes further military action against Ukraine.” In addition, the EU called on Moscow to fulfill its part of the deal and to start implementing the Minsk agreements.
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Formally, the decision of the European leaders will be formalized and published next week.
On automatism
Individual sanctions against Ukrainian and Russian citizens on charges of undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine are regularly extended by the EU for six months since March 2014.
Currently, the sanctions list includes 177 individuals and 48 legal entities from the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Restrictions prohibit visiting EU countries and transferring funds to persons on the list, as well as freeze their financial assets.
177individuals
from Russia and Ukraine includes the EU sanctions list
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin also signed a decree extending the counter-sanctions for 2022. The list of the food embargo includes fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products. For the first time, restrictions on the part of Moscow were introduced in 2014 for a year, but later they were repeatedly extended, and the list of products was revised. In July, Russian authorities refused to return Parmesan to the country, leaving it on a counter-sanctions list, despite requests from the Italian side.
Motivation for action
Earlier it became known that the administration of US President Joe Biden calls on partners from the European Union to finalize a broader package of sanctions against Russian banks and energy companies in the event of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Bloomberg, the new restrictions could affect defense companies as well as the energy sector, including coal and technology exports. In addition, the sanctions will apply to Russian financial institutions, banks and access to payment systems, including SWIFT.
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In addition, the United States is pushing Germany to stop Nord Stream 2. Despite the fact that the new government of Germany has not at the moment expressed readiness for such a step, on December 16, the German regulator announced that the certification of the gas pipeline will take place no earlier than the second half of 2022.
At the same time, the agency noted, Brussels is more restrained in the matter of imposing regular restrictions. Washington is committed to the policy of sanctions as the main way to contain Russia. Nevertheless, a number of MEPs have already called for expanding the possibilities of sanctioning pressure on Russia and introducing an additional mechanism for corruption crimes, as well as against the oil and gas sector.
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