The EU and the United States are expected to announce additional measures against Russia, with sanctions against President Vladimir Putin’s daughters reportedly under consideration.
A day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave horrific testimony to the UN about atrocities he described as war crimes, EU diplomats were preparing to discuss banning Russian coal, ending deals with four key banks and banning many Russian ships from ports. the EU later on Wednesday.
The closest members of the Russian leader’s family could be added to the growing list of sanctions, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported, citing people the news outlets said were familiar with the plan. It is unclear whether these sanctions against Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova will come from the United States, the European Union or both.
However, tensions between EU member states are rising over the measures. Lithuania, one of Ukraine’s most loyal allies in the bloc, said the proposals “were not a truly adequate response” to the horrors unveiled in Ukrainian cities after Russian troops left.
“Coal, four banks (already excluded), a ban on ports and borders (with exceptions) is not really an adequate package of sanctions for the mass killings that are being revealed,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. “The poor answer is just an invitation to more atrocities. It can and should be stronger. “
Lithuania announced on Sunday that it has stopped importing Russian gas, the first EU member state to do so, but the bloc as a whole, which receives 40% of gas imports from its eastern neighbor, is reluctant to take the step.
The EU has speeded up unsuccessful talks on further sanctions against Russia, as evidence emerged of alleged war crimes against defenseless civilians in cities controlled by Russian forces.
In a painful testimony to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Zelensky described how people were shot, tortured, raped and crushed by tanks, calling on Russian leaders to face war crimes trials through an international tribunal modeled on the Nuremberg trials against the Nazis. . “There is not a single crime that is not committed there,” he told the assembly. “They killed whole families – adults and children – and tried to burn the bodies.
In addition to a ban on coal and Russian ships (with the exception of humanitarian aid, food and energy), the European Commission has proposed a total ban on transactions by four Russian banks, including the second largest, VTB. However, the EU cut off VTB from the Swift messaging system, making it much more difficult to do business with the bank.
According to proposals announced on Tuesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Russian and Belarusian road transport companies will be banned from entering the EU. The Commission also wants to ban the export of high-tech goods, including quantum computers and modern semiconductors, to Russia. Some Russian imports will be banned, including timber, cement, seafood and alcohol, which are valued at 5.5 billion euros for Russia each year.
The plans are being studied by EU capitals, who are likely to amend the measures before seeking unanimous agreement, either on Wednesday or Thursday.
After meeting with his German counterpart in Berlin, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said European sanctions would include coal and oil.
If passed, the measures will be the EU’s fifth package of sanctions, after Vladimir Putin announced he would recognize the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, the basis for an unprovoked invasion he launched days later. While the first four rounds of EU sanctions were agreed relatively quickly, tensions are rising in the next steps.
Poland and the Baltic states are calling for a total ban on Russian fossil fuel exports, while Germany, which receives 55% of its gas from Russia, is worried about unemployment and a sharp rise in gasoline prices.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was hailed by the Kremlin for Monday’s election victory, also opposes a ban on gas and oil. Austria is also considered lukewarm in the plans. “It is clear that Vienna, Budapest and Berlin are less happy,” said a diplomat from one of the so-called sanctions states, which supports the hard line.
Germany supports the ban on coal, which will be aimed at trade worth 4 billion euros a year with Russia. Last month, Deputy Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habek announced a plan to phase out Russian coal by the end of the summer and oil by the end of the year. “By the end of the year, we are striving to be almost independent,” he said.
The Netherlands, home to the EU’s largest port, Rotterdam, is believed to support a ban on Russian ships. Proponents of strong sanctions are also pushing for the removal of “some strange derogations” from existing sanctions, such as closing doors in earlier measures to ban the sale of luxury goods by the EU to Russia.
In a separate speech to the Spanish parliament on Tuesday, Zelenksiy called for a ban on lucrative Russian oil. Drawing parallels between the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War and the attack on his country, Zelensky said that “the fate of the entire European project, the values that unite us” are at stake in Ukraine.
Russia has denied any responsibility for the deaths, claiming the photos were staged or people were killed after the withdrawal. However, satellite images show bodies lying on the streets of cities under Russian occupation.
EU sanctions are being drafted in co-ordination with the White House, which has promised a ban on all investment in Russia. “The goal is to force them to make choices,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “Most of our goal here is to exhaust the resources that Putin has at his disposal to continue his war against Ukraine.
“You can expect… that they will target Russian government officials, members of their families, Russian financial institutions, as well as state-owned enterprises,” she said.
She declined to comment on reports in the Wall Street Journal that sanctions would be imposed on Putin’s two daughters.
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