The next sanctions to be imposed by the European Union (EU) on Russia will ban the trade in dual-use technology still found in Russian weapons systems in Ukraine, diplomatic sources have revealed.
Ambassadors of the EU countries will meet in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss the new sanctions with the aim of implementing them by February 24, when it will be one year since Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine.
The core of the sanctions will be an export ban on Western technology found in Russian weapons and ammunition in Ukraine. In monetary terms, the export ban would amount to approximately ten billion euros per year.
“We want to ensure that European technology does not end up in Russian war machines (..), this material is difficult to obtain elsewhere, for example in China. It will not be easy to replace it,” said one of the EU diplomats.
The new sanctions will also include a long list of people who will have their EU funds frozen and be banned from issuing visas to enter the EU.
“It will be a mix of Russian propagandists, MPs, military personnel, businessmen and local politicians from the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine,” revealed another EU diplomat.
But the new sanctions are unlikely to ban Russian exports of diamonds or nuclear technology to the EU.
Belgium fears such a ban would harm its diamond trading center in Antwerp, and Hungary opposes sanctions on nuclear technology, diplomatic sources said.
In connection with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU has already imposed sanctions on 1,386 natural persons and 171 legal entities, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his closest relatives.
The EU has also imposed price ceilings on Russian oil and gas, banned most purchases of Russian oil, and cracked down on Russian banks, energy firms, defense companies, aviation and shipping companies, and the media.
