Status: 05.10.2022 12:12 p.m
Russia continues to escalate the war against Ukraine. The EU is reacting with new sanctions – including against Russia’s oil sector. The eighth package of sanctions has yet to be approved and is expected to come into effect on Thursday.
The EU countries have launched an eighth package of sanctions against Russia. This was announced by the Czech Council Presidency on Twitter. This is “a strong EU response to Putin’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories.” The agreement still has to be confirmed by the capitals in the written procedure. This should be done by Thursday morning.
Among other things, the permanent representatives of the member states approved the legal requirements for a price cap for oil imports from Russia supported by the G7 states. This was confirmed by several diplomats from the dpa news agency in Brussels.
Von der Leyen: “Ask the Kremlin to keep paying”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement: “We will neither accept Putin’s sham referendums nor any kind of annexation in Ukraine,” wrote the German politician on Twitter. One is determined to continue to ask the Kremlin to pay.
Von der Leyen proposed the package in the middle of last week. Shortly thereafter, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin declared four occupied Ukrainian territories as Russian territory. This step is not recognized internationally. The EU heads of state and government also declared the decision null and void.
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis considers the new sanctions weak. “The time for strong packages is over, and reading the presented documents sometimes gives the impression that there are more exceptions than sanctions,” he told Lithuanian radio. “Nevertheless, it’s better than nothing, than no package at all.”
“The core of the package is an oil price cap”, Tobias Reckmann, ARD Brussels, on the new EU sanctions against Russia
tagesschau24 12:00 p.m., 5.10.2022
Import ban on certain steel
Part of the basic agreement on the new sanctions are various export bans that affect certain key technologies for aviation. In addition, there should be an import ban for certain steel from Russia. In the future, EU citizens will also be banned from holding seats on the executive bodies of Russian state-owned companies. The federal government in particular had campaigned for this after ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had been chairman of the supervisory board of the Russian oil company Rosneft for a long time.
In addition, there are punitive measures against people who helped to hold sham referendums in the areas of Ukraine that have now been annexed by Russia. They are subject to entry bans and asset freezes.
With the new package of sanctions, the EU states are also creating the basis for Russia having to sell oil to large buyers such as India at a much lower price than at present. This is intended to reduce Moscow’s income, which is also used to finance the war against Ukraine.
Hungary’s interests not harmed
Above all, it was unclear whether Hungary would agree to the new sanctions. Prime Minister Viktor Orban had recently repeatedly railed against the punitive measures that had already been decided, even though his government supported the decisions – some with exceptions for his own country.
According to a government spokesman, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that the new sanctions would not harm Hungary’s interests. There are exceptions for all those punitive measures that affect the security of Hungary’s energy supply, for example. On the other hand, countries like Cyprus and Greece were concerned because they have large tanker fleets that transport oil.
EU agrees on eighth package of sanctions against Russia
Birgit Raddatz, ARD Brussels, October 5, 2022 1:18 p.m