The countries of the European Union (EU) have begun the process of agreeing on the seventh package of sanctions against Russia. This was announced on Saturday, June 4, in an interview with Polish Radio by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Pavel Yablonsky.
The diplomat confirmed this fact when answering the question whether the European Parliament has started work on the seventh package of restrictive measures.
“Sanctions should be even sharper: in the context of gas, which Russia can still sell, in the context of disconnecting all Russian banks from the SWIFT system. Here I am talking primarily about Gazprombank, ”the politician emphasized.
In addition, according to Yablonsky, it is necessary to impose an embargo on technologies that can still be supplied to the Russian Federation and used by Moscow in its own industry. He also indicated that work is underway towards the confiscation of Russian assets in Europe.
At the same time, he recalled that many EU countries decided to open accounts with Gazprombank in order to make payments, as it were, formally in euros and dollars, which are converted into rubles.
Earlier, on June 2, the EU countries agreed on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia. In particular, the ban was imposed on offshore oil supplies, but excludes exports through pipelines, through which EU members, including Hungary, Germany and Poland, received about a third of the oil. This covers more than two-thirds of Russia’s oil imports, reducing a huge source of funding.
The ban on the import of crude oil from Russia to the European Union will come into effect six months after the introduction of the sixth package of sanctions. In addition, eight months after that, a ban on the purchase of petroleum products from the Russian Federation will come into effect. At the same time, all these restrictions do not apply to supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline.
Moscow, for its part, has repeatedly spoken about the self-destructive consequences of sanctions. It was noted that sanctions harm primarily the residents of the EU countries themselves, and Russia will “worthily” withstand the restrictions.
Western countries began to impose new sanctions in response to Russia’s conduct of a special operation to protect the Donbass, the beginning of which was announced on February 24. Moscow explained that the tasks of the special operation include the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, the implementation of which is necessary to ensure the security of Russia. The decision was made against the backdrop of aggravation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
