President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (pictured on February 24, 2023).
Brussels – This evening, after long debates, the states of the European Union agreed at the last moment on the tenth package of anti-Russian sanctions, which they planned to approve on today's first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Swedish Presidency of the EU informed about the agreement of the ambassadors of the member countries. The sanctions are to affect Russian exports worth ten billion euros (237 billion crowns). They will also include some hitherto unaffected banks, Russian officials and propagandists. The EU should formally approve the agreement during Saturday.
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“The EU stands united behind Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the Swedish presidency said on the adoption of the sanctions.
The European Commission proposed the tenth set of sanctions at the beginning of February, and EU countries set themselves the goal of approving it today. However, in the last three days, the ambassadors of the member countries have sought in vain to agree on the details of the ban on the export of Russian synthetic rubber proposed by Poland. However, a group of countries negotiated wide-ranging exemptions, for example with regard to tire production, which they said would be affected by the restrictions. However, the exceptions were too big for Warsaw.
Polish Ambassador Andrzej Sadoš, according to the PAP agency, stated after the meeting that the agreement is conditional and is linked to the fulfillment of some additional requirements. The EU countries should formally approve it on Saturday morning.
The new set of sanctions envisages the disconnection of Alfa and Tinkoff banks from the SWIFT international payment system. The export of components usable for military purposes should be limited. The sanctions are also intended to hit the production of drones that Iran supplies to Russia. For example, officials responsible for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia are to be added to the list of individual sanctions.
