The European Union plans to shake up the Russian war economy. Member states’ foreign ministers have agreed to advance a new package of sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime after the Kremlin chief issued his declaration of “partial mobilization” – the first in Russia – following the Kremlin chief’s nuclear threats against the West since World War II – the troop surge in Ukraine and the calling of pseudo-referendums in the occupied Ukrainian territories to annex them to Russia. Foreign affairs officials from the 27, at an urgent meeting in New York, where they are attending the United Nations General Assembly, agreed to send more weapons to Ukraine, where the successful counter-offensive by Kiev troops in the east was successful the withdrawal of the Kremlin troops. The new package of sanctions, the eighth, is again targeting Russia’s economy and people linked to Putin’s war on Ukraine.
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Against a backdrop of a crisis over falling Russian gas supplies, with electricity prices skyrocketing across Europe, and as Putin ups the ante in his energy fight against the EU, getting unity among the 27 to deliver the new sanctions package could be more difficult . On Tuesday, a day before Putin’s decision to mobilize around 300,000 troops to fight in Ukraine and to call for a vote on taking over the occupied Ukrainian territories, Hungary again spoke out against it. His Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is close to Putin, claims the sanctions are hurting Europe and fueling the energy crisis.
However, following the escalation and Putin’s vociferous threats to use nuclear weapons, there are growing calls for a strong EU response, which defines Putin’s actions as a sign of weakness and his losing the war. “We have decided, in coordination with partners, to come up with additional restrictive measures against Russia as soon as possible,” EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell said after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the 27 in which they are Dmitro Kuleba, the heads of Ukrainian diplomacy, heard. “We will continue to support Ukraine’s efforts by supplying military equipment,” he said, without elaborating. Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted in an interview with CNN that she would propose introducing additional controls on the export of civil technology.
Moscow insists EU sanctions, which include a ban on raw materials such as coal and which also target Russia’s export and import market, and a large number of people linked to the Kremlin (from officials to to oligarchs, through relatives from Putin’s inner circle). The latter are forbidden from entering the Community area and their assets in Europe are frozen. But the reality is stubborn in the face of media propaganda from the orbit of the Russian regime, namely that sanctions are hitting the Russian market with examples as basic as airlines recycling old plane parts to keep airplanes in the air from components.
Putin’s decision to order a mobilization, which he describes as “partial” but in which he leaves regional authorities wide open to recruitment, has stoked panic in many Russian households, who may be beginning to become war-conscious in the face of Kremlin propaganda to rethink that Russia is fighting a “neo-Nazi” Ukraine. Russian security forces on Wednesday arrested more than a thousand people demonstrating in small demonstrations in several Russian cities, an action that is not trivial as Russia punishes those who protest and more against a war that cannot even be mentioned : The Kremlin has banned calling it that, calling it a “military special operation.”
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The new sanctions package could be formalized in October when member states’ foreign ministers meet in Brussels, although the sixth sanctions package (the seventh actually served to fill gaps in previous measures) required more than four weeks of negotiations to move forward. They would be added to the measures against exports from Russia, which has 50% of its market in the EU; a veto on oil imported by ship; the separation of Russian banks from the financial communications system SWIFT, a key instrument for international economic relations; and the ban on the broadcasting on Community territory of several television channels linked to the Kremlin.
In addition, the export of many vital goods for Russian industry, such as semiconductors, aviation equipment or technology for the energy and space sectors, has been restricted. The export of coal, iron, steel, wood or cement to the EU was also banned. Packages of European sanctions have also had an impact on transport. Since February, all Russian airlines have been banned from entering Union airspace or from an airport in a Member State.
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