On Monday (December 13), before two important summits in Brussels this week, the EU foreign ministers coordinated with the United States and the United Kingdom to discuss possible options for a new round of economic sanctions against Russia.
“We are in deterrence mode,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, told reporters who arrived at the meeting when talking about Russia’s build-up of troops on the Ukrainian border.
Ministers will discuss a larger potential economic sanctions against Russia in order to retain options that may be escalated.
EU diplomats said these measures include possible travel bans and asset freezes on Russian politicians, as well as a ban on financial and bank contacts with Russia.
Other possibilities raised are potential measures for the disputed Beixi 2 pipeline to prevent it from being put into operation or to target more Russian state-owned defense and energy companies or cancel natural gas contracts.
Borel said: “In any case, we will send a clear signal that any aggression against Ukraine will cost Russia a high price,” he added, adding that the EU is “working with the United States and the United Kingdom to study what sanctions might be. When and how to implement it., in a coordinated manner.”
However, no decision will be made on Monday, and the discussion will move to the EU leaders summit on Thursday.
However, when speaking to reporters after the meeting, Borrell did not confirm whether he would provide them with a list of options.
On Sunday, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries warned Russia that if it attacked Ukraine, it would bring “great consequences.”
Wagner sanctions
Later in the day, the EU foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions on targets related to the Russian private military company Wagner. Western countries said it was working on behalf of the Kremlin in conflict areas such as Ukraine, Syria, and Libya.
Wagner also provides services to governments in sub-Saharan Africa, including Mali and the Central African Republic.
According to their joint statement, the individuals on the list “participated in serious human rights violations, including torture and extrajudicial executions, summary executions or arbitrary executions and killings, or engaged in destabilizing activities in some of the countries in which they operate.”
In the sanctions list established by EU officials and unanimously approved by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the mercenary organization, as well as eight individuals and three energy companies, became the targets of the asset freeze.
Wagner’s money is said to come from the 60-year-old St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin (he is said to have close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin) for destabilizing Libya and intervening in the United States. The election was sanctioned by the European Union and the United States.
The sanctions list also includes Dmitry Utkin, now said to be the commander of Wagner, responsible for mercenary operations in Ukraine, Alexander Kutzensov, a commander accused of threatening peace and security in Libya, and a retired colonel. Andrei Rochev, Wagner’s founding executive director, currently directs the Syrian mercenaries to support the Bashar al-Assad regime.
[Edited by Benjamin Fox]
