The sanctions of the European Union against Russia include a good part of the Government of Vladimir Putin, the leadership of the Russian Army and prominent figures of his close circle of businessmen and the Kremlin propaganda apparatus, according to the list to which EL has had access. COUNTRY. The punishment, approved after Putin recognized the independence of the separatist regions of Donbas and ordered the dispatch of troops, also reaches three financial entities linked to the Russian State and the propaganda apparatus behind the information campaigns launched from Moscow, in particular the relating to Ukraine. The 23 senior officials included in the blacklist will be prohibited from entering the EU and the Member States will have to freeze the assets they have in their territories.
The sanctions were agreed on Tuesday in Paris, during an extraordinary meeting of the EU foreign ministers. On the afternoon of the same day, the permanent representatives of the 27 Union partners in Brussels also closed the legal texts (three regulations) that have served as the basis for imposing the punishment. This Wednesday the procedures have been completed, as anticipated by the rotating presidency of the European Council, occupied this semester by France, and the text of the sanctions has been published in the official journal of the EU.
After the publication of the sanctions, the EU has convened a summit of the heads of state and government of the 27 to be held this Thursday in Brussels to address the next steps in the face of the Russian threat to Ukraine.
The first reprisals from the EU have entered into force, therefore, just 48 hours after Putin gave his endorsement of the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk, in the midst of a diplomatic crisis between Moscow and the West due to the presence of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine. Separatist soldiers rebelled in 2014 against the Kiev government. Since then, a third of the region, which borders Russia, has been controlled by pro-Russian armed groups. The Kremlin’s decision has been interpreted in Brussels and Washington as the first step towards a possible invasion of Ukraine. And both the EU and the US have reacted with a first battery of sanctions, although they reserve a much greater commercial and political punishment in case Moscow consumes the attack against its neighboring country.
The list of those sanctioned does not currently include Putin himself, who could be the target in future rounds, but it does include a good part of his closest political, military, business and media circle. In the first place is Sergei Shoigu, Russian Defense Minister, whom Brussels considers “responsible for any military action against Ukraine”, including the occupation of Crimea, according to the text that will be published in the official newspaper.
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The head of Putin’s cabinet, Anton Vaino, is sanctioned “for his influence on the president’s decisions” and his participation in the security council, the body where the decision to recognize the independence of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Within the government, the list also indicates two deputy prime ministers and the Minister of Economy.
In the Army, the sanctions reach the commanders-in-chief of the Russian navy, aviation and aerospace forces, who are blamed for the policies undertaken by Russia to destabilize Ukraine and threaten its territorial integrity.
The media close to the Kremlin, which Brussels considers part of the propaganda apparatus in charge of disseminating and propagating hoaxes, misinformation and conspiracy theories about the West and, in particular, about the alleged threat that Ukraine poses to Russia, are not exempt from punishment either. . In this group stands out Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of the English version of the television channel RT (Russian Today), which broadcasts in numerous countries outside her country of origin. And Maria Zakharova, the communication director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, considered by the EU as “a central figure in government propaganda” and promoter of the military intervention in Ukraine.
The listing also shows the family ties that bind part of the Kremlin circle. And in the case of businessman Yevgeney Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner paramilitary group and accused of undermining stability in Ukraine, his wife and his mother are also among those sanctioned.
The three punished financial entities, which will not be able to operate in European territory or do business with EU citizens, are the Rossiya Bank, specialized in the accounts of senior officials of the Russian Federation; the Promsvyazbank, owned by the state and focused on financing the defense sector, and the Veb.Rf, whose president is appointed directly by Putin and manages the state pension funds.
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