EU announces new sanctions to target Russia

The European Union has proposed a new round of sanctions targeting Russia after Moscow announced a partial mobilisation and staged widely condemned referendums on annexations in Ukrainian territory it’s occupying.

In addition to imposing a price cap on Russian oil, the measures will include an import ban on Russian products that will deprive Moscow of €7 billion in revenue as well as export restrictions on aviation products, electronic components and chemical substances, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.

Sanctions need to be approved unanimously by the EU’s 27 member states before they can be imposed.

Separately, European allies were considering how to respond to a disruption of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline as Russia threatened to cut off the last gas supplies to them via Ukraine.

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the NATO military alliance, said after meeting Danish Defence Minister Morten Bodskov that they discussed “the protection of critical infrastructure.”

Western accusations that Russia sabotaged the Nord Stream pipeline system are “rather expected” and also “stupid” and “absurd,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

Peskov said it’s necessary to wait for an investigation to show whether “it was an explosion or a rupture.” He said Putin plans to meet with leaders of the occupied regions of Ukraine following the annexation votes, but declined to say when this would happen.

Russia pounded Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv on Tuesday evening, the regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram, adding that there were no casualties according to preliminary information.

Air-defense forces shot down Russian missiles in the Mykolaiv, Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Ukrainian military’s southern command said on Facebook. Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks near eight settlements, Ukraine’s General Staff reported in its morning update.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report that Ukrainian forces consolidated positions on the eastern bank of the Oskil river and advanced further on the outskirts of Lyman in the Donetsk region, while continuing to target Russian supply lines as part of a southern counter-offensive.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held another telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and reiterated that the government in Berlin will “never recognise” the results of what he called “pretend referenda” in Russian occupied areas of Ukraine.

Scholz “stressed that Germany would not stop providing concrete political, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine, as well as in the defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, including with weapons supplies,” according to an emailed statement from his spokesman.

Lithuania, which stepped up security for its strategic energy infrastructure in February when Russia invaded Ukraine, said the government will discuss whether additional measures are needed following the Nord Stream disruption. Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said consultations will be held with the defence ministry and army officials.

Finland’s Border Guard has called for a fence to be built to secure the riskiest spots along the 1,300-kilometer border with Russia.

Finland should build as much as 260 kilometres of fence to help prevent potential uncontrolled mass-scale entry from the east, the Border Guard said in a press release.

A physical barrier is “necessary” to slow and control any crowds, it said. The fence could cost “hundreds of millions of euros” with a final decision on funding resting with the government.

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