EU fails to approve new Russia sanctions
European Union (Photo:REUTERS/Yves Herman)
After several days of discussions, EU ambassadors couldn’t agree on the 10th package of sanctions against Russia, which was supposed to be approved by the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Radio Liberty journalist Rikard Jozwiak reported via Twitter on Feb. 23.
Jozwiak added that the meetings will resume on Feb. 24, at 10:00 a.m.
Reuters reported that Poland is "blocking the package due to proposed exemptions from the EU import ban on Russian synthetic rubber." Polish diplomats believe that the exceptions will make the sanctions ineffective. Other sources told Reuters that exceptions were offered to Italy, supported by Germany.
Nevertheless, President Zelenskyy’s Chief-of-Staff, Andrii Yermak, tweeted "there will be sanctions," suggesting that Kyiv is confident the EU will resolve the differences.
The sanctions package is expected to include trade restrictions worth more than EUR 10 billion ($10.63 billion), including a ban on the import of Russian rubber into the EU and the export of dual-use technological equipment, spare parts to Russia.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Feb. 15 that the 10th package of European Union sanctions against Russia will target goods with a total value of $11 billion. It will consist of trade embargoes and technology export controls.
According to the WSJ, the United States plans to announce a new package of sanctions against 200 Russian individuals and legal entities this week.
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