EU countries have agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia. It includes punitive measures against other individuals and organizations that support Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also an instrument against circumventing sanctions already imposed, as the Swedish Council Presidency announced in Brussels on Wednesday.
The agreement was reached in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States to the EU in Brussels. It only needs to be formally accepted by the EU member states. The plans include the possibility to restrict selected exports to certain third countries due to suspected sanctions circumvention. Many products from the EU countries themselves have not been allowed to be delivered to Russia for months.
China helps evade sanctions
Examples of countries used to circumvent sanctions against Russia include Kazakhstan, Armenia, the United Arab Emirates and China. Turkey has recently been certified by EU experts to respond with relative resoluteness to indications of sanctions circumvention.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, welcomed the agreement on the sanctions package. It will deal another blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine with tightened export restrictions. It also targets institutions that support the Kremlin. “Our anti-sanction evasion tool will prevent Russia from getting its hands on sanctioned goods.”
Export bans amounting to 50 billion euros
With regard to the previous sanctions against Russia, the Commission chief recently said that the EU’s export ban alone covers goods with a pre-war trade volume of around €50 billion per year. This corresponds to a share of 55 percent. The EU import bans on goods from Russia thus affect 60 percent of pre-war exports worth around 90 billion euros.
Immediately after the presentation of the proposals for the sanctions package in early May, there was also a long discussion about whether individual countries should be pilloried if they are used to circumvent sanctions against Russia. The main reason for this was the concern of some countries that any action against China could lead to retaliation and negative effects on trade relations. A very cautious approach was therefore agreed.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
