According to the EU’s top diplomat, new sanctions will be imposed on Russia by the European Union for its war on Ukraine. They will target Russia’s oil industry, banks, and disinformation agents.
Josep Borrell (head of the EU’s foreign policy unit, executive European Commission) said in a tweet that “We are currently working on the sixth set of sanctions which aims at de-SWIFT additional banks, list disinformation agents and tackle oil imports.”
Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine affects global security.
We are working on the 6th package of sanctions which aims to de-swift more banks, list disinformation actors and tackle oil imports.
These measures will be presented to the Council for approval.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) May 3, 2022
Diplomats confirmed that the latest round of sanctions will also affect Sberbank (SBER.MM ), Russia’s largest lender.
Borrell stated that the proposed measures of the Commission against Russia, which attacked Ukraine via land, sea, and air on February 24, 2017, would be presented to 27 EU member countries for approval.
Officials stated that Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, would outline the new sanctions proposed on Wednesday. They will include a ban on Russian oil imports by the end this year.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that he would stop exports and deal to end sanctions imposed by the EU.
Moscow would lose a significant revenue stream if it were to embargo Russian oil, but the agreement reached has divided the bloc’s member countries, which rely on Russia for 26% its oil imports.
Germany and Hungary were two of the countries that expressed reservations about an oil embargo. One of their concerns was that rising energy prices could hurt EU economies already struggling with inflation.
Diplomats said that resistance to an oil import ban fell over the past week, after an agreement was reached that would exempt Slovakia and Hungary. This is citing two countries heavily dependent on Russian crude.
According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, EU countries have paid more 47 billion euros ($47.43 trillion) to Russia for oil and gas since its invasion of Ukraine.
