EU leaders have agreed to impose “massive” sanctions on Russia in areas ranging from finance to transport, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in the early hours of Friday, according to Politico.
Speaking following an emergency summit dedicated to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, von der Leyen declared that “we will hold the Kremlin accountable.”
“The package of massive and targeted sanctions European leaders approved tonight clearly demonstrates that — it will have maximum impact on the Russian economy and the political elite,” added von der Leyen.
The new sanctions will hit five areas: the financial sector, the energy sector, the transport sector, export controls and visa policy, according to the Commission chief.
“This package includes financial sanctions that cut Russia’s access to the most important capital markets. We’re now targeting 70 percent of the Russian banking market, but also key state-owned companies including the field of defense,” she said.
The sanctions will increase Russia’s borrowing costs and gradually erode its industrial base, according to von der Leyen, who also said Russia’s elites will be hit.
When it comes to energy, “our export ban will hit the oil by making it impossible for Russia to upgrade its oil refineries.”
Officials stated there will also be a ban on the sale of aircraft, spare parts and equipment to Russian airlines, and limit Russia’s access to crucial technologies needed to build semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
“When it comes to visas, diplomats and related groups and business people will no longer have privileged access to the European Union,” said von der Leyen.
“Our unity is our strength,” von der Leyen said. „The Kremlin knows this and it has tried its best to divide us, but it has utterly failed. It has achieved exactly the opposite,” she added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Commission president said, “is trying to subjugate a friendly European country and he’s trying to redraw the maps of Europe by force. He must — and he will — fail.”
The detailed sanctions package is expected to be approved by EU ambassadors on Friday morning and is then rubber-stamped by foreign ministers in the afternoon.