The European Union (EU) has officially approved the sixth package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell reports that the EU has decided to tighten restrictions that affect Russia’s ability to finance the war by imposing new economic sanctions. The EU has imposed an embargo on imports of Russian oil and has thereby cut Russia off from a massive source of income. Russia’s biggest bank – Sberbank – is now disconnected from SWIFT as a result of new sanctions. The EU has also imposed sanctions on broadcasters that are actively engaged in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war propaganda, as reported by the high representative.
The latest EU sanctions provide for an embargo of Russian crude and other petrol products.
Gradual prohibition of imports of Russian oil will require six months for crude and up to eight months for other petrol products. One temporary exception is for imports of crude through pipelines for EU member states that are unable to refuse imports of Russian oil due to their geographical location and no sustainable alternatives.
Russian Sberbank, Moscow Credit Bank, Rosselhozbank and Belarusian Development and Reconstruction Bank have all been disconnected from SWIFT.
The EU has also banned broadcasts from three Russian state television channels – RTR-Planeta, Rossiya-24 and Mezhdunarodnij TV-Centr.
The EU has also expanded the list of persons and organisations under sanctions and who are under export restrictions due to dual-use goods and technologies.
This list includes Russian and Belarusian organisations.
The EU also prohibits provision of accounting and public relations services to Russia. European authorities have also imposed individual sanctions against private and legal persons that support the war and are responsible for the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha and Mariupol. The list will be published later.