The package of sanctions against Russia, adopted on Thursday 24 February by the 27 in full Russian invasion of Ukraine, will target, in addition to the financial and banking sectors, also the Kremlin: President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Serghej Lavrov. New sanctions are already on the table. Meanwhile, European finance ministers have argued that the EU strategy will have a certain impact on the Russian economy and therefore presumably on the actions of the Russian government.
“At this point, President Putin and Minister Lavrov join other leaders sanctioned by the European Union: Bashar al-Assad and Aleksander Lukashenko – noted the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep at a press conference in Brussels. Borrell -. We want to isolate Russia from the international community, but we don’t want to weigh on the population ». Meanwhile, Russia was also excluded from the Eurovision Festival and the organization of the football Champions League final was withdrawn.
The package-bis of sanctions
The second package of sanctions is much more varied than the first, adopted on Tuesday 22 February. In addition to affecting two top executives of Russia and various other people, it affects the financial sector, the oil sector (in the field of refining), the transport sector (75% of aircraft parts come from Europe and Canada), and the high-tech one (block on semiconductor exports).
The European Union “wants to cut all links between Russia and the global financial system,” commented French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire. Speaking to the press before a meeting of finance ministers in Paris, he added: “We want to financially isolate Russia (…) We want to drain the funding” of the Russian economy.
According to the Twenty-Seven, the sanctions decided on February 24, and formally adopted on the 25th by the foreign ministers, will affect 70% of the Russian financial sector. In Paris, the government announced that a census of Russian citizens who have assets in France has already begun with the aim of freezing assets.