European Union imposes fresh sanctions on Russia; Aims to hit core sectors of Moscow

As the war between Russia and Ukraine enters the 17th day, the European Union unveiled a series of sanctions against Moscow. According to the announcement by President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the new sanctions will ensure to hit the Russian market severely - both economically and personally.

Among the actions announced on Saturday, Ursula stressed her speech on cutting the European countries from their dependency on Russia for energy such as oil and gas. During her speech, she highlighted how the countries are cutting ties with Russian banks and pointed out the continuous exit of famous brands from the Russian market. 

"Many key Russian banks are cut off from the international banking system. Companies are leaving the country, one after the other, not wanting to have their brands associated with a murderous regime. Tomorrow, we will take the fourth package of measures to further isolate Russia and drain the resources it uses to finance this barbaric war," said Ursula von der Leyen.

According to her, at first, the bloc will deny Russia the status of most-favoured-nation in EU markets. She said that the action will revoke important benefits that Russia enjoys as a WTO member.

"Russian companies will no longer receive privileged treatment in our economies," she stressed. "We will also work to suspend Russia's membership rights in leading multilateral financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank," President of the European Commission warned.

EU sanctions also ensure to hit the core sector of Russia

Ursula von der Leyen also stressed that the block will ensure the Russian state and its elites cannot use crypto assets to circumvent the sanctions. She also announced to ban the export of any EU luxury goods from EU countries to Russia, in order to prevent Russian elites from enjoying a lavish life in Moscow.

"Those who sustain Putin's war machine should no longer be able to enjoy their lavish lifestyle while bombs fall on innocent people in Ukraine," Ursula von der Leyen said. 

She also said that the European Union will prohibit the import of key goods in the iron and steel sector from the Russian Federation in order to hit the central sector of the country. According to her, the action on steel will deprive Russia of gaining billions of export revenue.

Image: AP/Twitter/@vonderleyen