The new measures are first aimed at making sanctions already taken against Russia.
Europeans adopted a new salvo of sanctions against Russia, Thursday, July 21. Unlike the six previous packages which, among other things, provide an embargo on Russian coal and gas, by August in the first case and at the end of the year in the second, it does not contain no flagship and symbolic measurement.
“We have come to the end of what we could do,” notes a diplomat, as soon as the twenty-seven do not plan to deprive themselves voluntarily with Russian gas. They already find it difficult to manage the ruptures of supply of Gazprom and, even if Poland and the Baltic States would have wished to take this stage, they do not intend to inflict such punishment themselves. Especially since, they know, put this subject on the table, it would be exposing their divisions in the open, for the greatest satisfaction of Vladimir Putin.
align on the G7
In this context, the new sanctions are first of all the objective of correcting those which have already been taken, in order to make them more effective and to prevent, as much as possible, that they are bypassed. Thus, the prohibition of access to the ports of the European Union (EU) for Russian ships has been extended to the neighboring ports of third countries, where some of them discharged their goods.
Another objective of these latest retaliatory measures against Moscow: the EU wishes to line up with the G7 decisions. While he decided at the end of June to no longer import Russian gold, Europeans therefore decided to follow. Hoping that the United Kingdom, which is the biggest buyer of this precious metal on the old continent and which is part of the G7, will not be lacking. “The jewelry is also affected by this embargo,” adds a senior official. Before qualifying: “If you wear a Russian pin on you while traveling, you have the right.”
For the same reason, they have extended the spectrum of exports now prohibited to Russia. No longer a question of selling it with police helmets, chemicals used in tear gas or technologies in the nuclear sector. In total, out of 88.4 billion euros in goods which were exported to Russia the year preceding the war, 28 % are prohibited today. Conversely, 51 % of Russian products (for a total value of 162 billion euros per year) that Europeans bought it before February 24 and the triggering of the war in Ukraine are now covered by restriction measures.
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