The foreign ministers of European Union member states have agreed new sanctions on Russia, EU top diplomat Josep Borrell said at a press conference following an emergency video conference meeting of the foreign ministers of EU countries, TASS reports.
"We have agreed to increase the [number of] people and entities that are going to be subject to restrictive measures," he said, adding that the full list would be published on Monday. "This includes Russian oligarchs and businessmen whose listing carries a huge economic impact and political figures who hold a key role in the Putin system in Russia," Borrell stressed.
According to him, the EU seeks to ensure "the widest possible international condemnation and isolation of Russia." "Russia will be isolated by the international community," Borrell added.
The European Union has decided to disconnect several Russian banks from SWIFT, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday after an extraordinary virtual conference of EU top diplomats.
"We are excluding a certain number of Russian banks from SWIFT. <…> Such measure has to be taken in coordination with other countries. We have reached this agreement," he said.
He admitted, however, that the European Union cannot disconnect Russia from SWIFT completely as the Russian economy is interlinked with economies of other countries. "Certainly not to disconnect the financial system of a country, which is strongly interrelated with other countries and other economies. This cannot be done like this with the scissors overnight," he said. "We have learned something from the Iranian experience. And we believe that we have to keep possibility for the financial system to work in order for people to use it and to send money to their relatives and further."
"It is certainly necessary to continue exchanging with Russia, but don't worry, the degree of this connection is carefully calibrated in order to create the maximum damage to the financial system of Russia, while keeping the minimum level of interconnection with other financial systems," he pledged.
Apart from that, in his words, the European Union will freeze more than half of the Russian Central Bank’s financial assets. "The restrictive measures that will paralyze the assets of the Russian Central Bank [have been adopted]. More than half or about a half of all the financial reserves of the Russian Central Bank will be frozen. <…> This is going to be affecting a lot the financial system of Russia," Borrell said.
Besides, European Union will introduce a package of sanctions against individuals and the economy of Belarus, President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday.
Thus, the EU will introduce restrictive measures against the most important sectors of the Belarusian economy - exports of products will be stopped, from minerals to tobacco, timber, cement, iron, and steel.
She added that sanctions would also be imposed against those Belarusians who contribute to the conduct of Russia’s special military operation.
