Sanctions Russia will face: UK takes off, EU and US follow

The United Kingdom was the first to step forward, but the European Union and the United States are preparing to follow suit. Russia will face new sanctions, including freezing private bank accounts and applying economic restrictions to the breakaway regions of Lugansk and Donetsk..

a British Prime Minister Boris JohnsonHe was the first to announce it Five Russian banks – Russia, IS Bank, General Bank, Promsviaz Bank and Black Sea Bank – and three Russian oligarchs, including Gennady Timchenko, will face sanctions..

In addition to having their assets frozen, these Russian oligarchs, who enjoy great wealth in the country, are also prohibited from traveling to the UK and doing any business in the country. Boris Johnson warns:This will be the first package of sanctions only if Vladimir Putin insists on invading Ukraine“.

In Europe, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed the “unwavering unity” of the European Union (EU) member states to press ahead with sanctions against Russia, promising “additional measures at a later stage”.

The chiefs point out that The sanctions package contains proposals to “target those involved in the illegal decision” to cover “banks that finance Russian military and other operations in these areas.”as well as for Restricting “the ability of the Russian state and government to access EU financial and capital markets and services” and “trade between the two breakaway regions to and from the EU”.

The goal, they add, is to “ensure that officials clearly feel the economic consequences of their illegal and aggressive actions.”

these The sanctions include 27 entities and members of Russia’s parliament (Duma), as well as asset freezes on Russian private banks and economic restrictions on breakaway regions..

The information was provided to Lusa by European sources, who noted that “the first package of restrictive measures was introduced today at COREPER II [Comité de Representantes Permanentes dos Governos dos Estados-Membros da União Europeia]”, which includes the “List of 27 Entities” as well as “Names of Members of the State Duma”, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (Parliament), totaling about 350 entities.

The same sources have identified, regarding Financial sanctions, “the European Commission will propose restrictions on the economic relations of the European Union (EU) with the “breakaway” regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, and the “assets of two Russian private banks” are also planned..

These sanctions – which the member states have not yet agreed to – come after Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Monday night, signed a decree recognizing the breakaway regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, in the Donbass (east), and ordered the entry of Russian militants. Troops in that Ukrainian territory on a “peacekeeping” mission.

Later this afternoon, the European Union Foreign Ministers, in an informal meeting scheduled as a matter of urgency in Paris, will analyze the imposition of these sanctions on Russia. At the end of the day, a new meeting of the ambassadors of the EU member states (COREPER II) is also scheduled, for the final approval of this sanctions package.

Meanwhile, the Germany It announced that it would stop the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was supposed to start transporting and distributing natural gas from Russia this year.

It is also a member of the United Nations Security Council China Concerned about the situation in Ukraine and calls for a diplomatic solution.

But what most analysts conclude is that the conflict has now entered a new phase, in which it is unlikely to maintain contacts like those between the Russian and American foreign ministers scheduled for next Thursday, in addition to the meeting between Putin and Biden. .

On the ground, the concern is the possibility of the conflict, which has hitherto been confined to the front line in the predominantly Russian Donetsk and Lugasink regions, to the area controlled by the Ukrainian army. Or worse, for the rest of the territory of Ukraine.

The decision that increased tension in the east

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the deployment of the Russian army for “peacekeeping” in the separatist, pro-Russian lands of eastern Ukraine, which he recognized yesterday as independent.

Putin signed two decrees asking the Defense Ministry to “be the Russian armed forces [assumam] Peacekeeping missions on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk “people’s republics”According to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The decrees also establish consultations between Moscow and the now-recognized republics to establish diplomatic relations and come into force from the moment they are published, according to the Kremlin (Russian Presidency) text.

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