EU's Josep Borrell says sanctions against Russia working; but 'it'll take time for effect'

With the European Union adopting six packages of sanctions against Moscow, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has stated that the "EU is about to finalise the 'maintenance and alignment' package to clarify a number of provisions to strengthen legal certainty for operators and align the EU's sanctions with those of our allies and partners of the G7." He further said that sanctions imposed on Russia are hitting the Kremlin hard and their effects will be seen in the future, as per the statement mentioned on the official website of European Union External Action.

EU's Josep Borrell says Sanctions against Russia are working

"Our sanctions are hitting the Kremlin hard and their effects on the Russian economy will increase further. We need strategic patience until Ukraine is able to recover its sovereignty in full," said Josep Borrell. However, he said the EU needs to use sanctions in a well-targetted matter and, above all, they "require strategic patience because it may take a long time for them to have the desired effect."

One of the major sanctions adopted by the EU is to suspend 90% of EU oil purchases from Moscow by the end of this year, as this step will deprive Russia of revenues, Borrell said.

"Cutting our structural energy dependence on Russia matters a lot because this dependence has been an obstacle to developing a strong European policy towards Moscow’s aggressive actions," the EU High Representative added, saying that Putin always believed that the EU would never sanction Russia as it was too dependent on energy, but "this rapid detoxification from Russian energy involves significant costs for a number of countries and sectors that we will have to face." However, it is the price to pay to defend our democracies and international law, he said.

Speaking on the economic condition of Russia, Borrell stated that the sanctions imposed by the EU are hurting the Russian economy and the country has a massive imbalance between the high volume of oil and gas exports and the parallel collapse of imports. He underscored that this "trade surplus" is not a sign of good economic health, especially for an economy like Russia. "Russia will try to substitute imports through domestic products." "This was done, not without success, in the agricultural sector after the 2014 sanctions." However, for high-tech products, it is much more difficult to achieve, he added.