The European Union Council (EU) has renewed on Monday another six months, until January 31, 2026, economic sanctions to Russia for its destabilizing actions in Ukraine.
“The EU has officially agreed today to expand sectoral sanctions to Russia. We will continue to press Moscow to put an end to its war in Ukraine,” said the high representative of the EU for foreign matters and security, Kaja Kallas, in which he added that “each sanction weakens Russia’s ability to make war.”
The political agreement to prolong these sanctions was closed by the heads of state and government of the Union at its summit last Thursday in Brussels.
These economic sanctions, introduced for the first time in 2014 -with the Russian Toma of Crimea and Sebastopol -, they have been expanding since February 2022 in response to the large -scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the Council said in a statement.
Currently, they consist of a broad spectrum of sectoral measures that include restrictions on trade, finance, energy, technology and double -use goods, industry, transport and luxury items.
They also cover the prohibition of importing or transferring crude oil transported by sea and certain oil products from Russia to the EU, as well as the elimination of the Swift system of several Russian banks and the suspension of the activities and licencies of broadcasting in the union of several “disinformation means” backed by the Kremlin. In addition, the EU has been approved specific measures to counteract the elusion of sanctions.
“While the illegal actions of Russia continue to violate fundamental norms of international law, including in particular the prohibition of the use of force, it is convenient to keep all the measures imposed by the EU in force and adopt additional measures, if necessary,” said the Council.
Beyond the economic sanctions to Russia, the EU has launched different types of measures in response to the “destabilizing actions” of Russia against Ukraine. These include the restrictions of economic relations with Crimea, “illegally annexed”, and the city of Sevastopol, as well as with the Ukraine areas not controlled by the Government in the provinces of Donetsk, Jersón, Lugansk and Zaporiyia.
Also individual restrictive measures (freezing of assets and travel restrictions) against a wide range of people and entities, as well as diplomatic measures. In total, since Russia began the large -scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the EU has adopted 17 penalty packages and prepares the decimoctavo.
The European Council has reaffirmed its support for a global, fair and lasting peace based on the principles of the United Nations Charter and International Law. It has also made clear the principle of “that no initiative related to Ukraine is taken without Ukraine.” Finally, the Council emphasized that the European Union “remains willing to intensify the pressure on Russia, even through the adoption of new sanctions.”
