A new package of sanctions against Russia for the war in Ukrainethe 14th, was adopted by the EU Council on the day in which Kalibr cruise missiles launched by Moscow’s armed forces hit the city of Odessa, causing at least three injuries and a fire that affected an area of approximately 3 thousand square meters.
What does the new sanctions package consist of?
The new sanctions package that received the green light from Luxembourg contains new measures against Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) and measures against war-supporting ships. It also targets oil tankers which are part of the ‘shadow’ fleet and which circumvent the limits set by the EU and the Price Cap Coalition, adopting deceptive navigation practices, violating international standards.
Furthermore, the package introduces new lists of individuals and entities responsible for actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. A total of 116 other names, including 69 natural persons and 47 legal persons, are subject to the asset freeze and, in the case of natural persons, also to the travel ban.
The package tightens financial sanctions, banning EU banks outside Russia from using the Spfs financial messaging system, the Russian equivalent of Swift. Restricts the export of nine additional dual-use items of advanced technology (for example, microwave and antenna amplifiers, flight data recorders and all-terrain vehicles) and extends export bans to certain types of industrial products, chemicals, plastics, parts of vehicles and machinery.
It also includes specific initiatives to protect EU operators from expropriation and to respond to other illegitimate actions of the Russian state, including theft of intellectual property. Particular satisfaction with this last point was expressed by the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. Speaking of a “very important” decision regarding the protection of companies that live and operate in the Russian Federation and recalling the Ariston and Unicredit cases, the head of the Farnesina explained that “today the principle passes that there can be compensation for companies affected by the Russian Federation”.
“The legal basis and the judicial principle pass today, then we will see where the funds can be found. But the principle that these companies must be compensated is already an important victory for Italy, which has fought hard within the European Union to guarantee these companies which, in compliance with the sanctions, operate in Russia”, continued Tajani. Also from Luxembourg, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, renewed the appeal for military aid to reach Ukraine “now, before the summer”.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned the United States ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy, in relation to the events that occurred in Sevastopol to officially protest “against another lethal crime by the Kiev regime, sponsored and armed by Washington”. Moscow’s Defense Ministry announced that it shot down four of five US-made Atacms missiles yesterday which were presumably aimed at the Belbek air base. The fifth missile, however, deflected by the Russian missile defense, exploded in mid-air on the nearby Uchkuyivka beach, causing casualties among swimmers.
