European Commission Considering Sixth Package of Sanctions Against Russia

The EU’s new package of sanctions against the Russian Federation may target Sberbank, as well as oil, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said.

“We are looking further at the banking sector, especially Sberbank, which accounts for 37% of the Russian banking sector. And, of course, there are energy issues,” she told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The European Commission President also directly defended the German government against accusations of delaying the introduction of restrictions on Russia.

“Germany agreed to all five sanctions packages we proposed within 48 hours. The European Union has never acted with such unity, determination and energy as it does now, and Berlin has played its part in this,” she stressed.

Commission chief von der Leyen believes that the restrictive economic measures imposed against the Kremlin are already having an effect. Exports to Russia fell by 70%; Russia’s gross domestic product will fall by 11%; and default in Russia is only a matter of time.

“Putin is destroying his own country and the future of his population with this war,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Office of the President of Ukraine is convinced that the embargo on Russian oil should be a mandatory item of the EU’s sixth package of sanctions against Russia.

According to Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva, among other things, the forthcoming sanctions may include a number of banks in terms of disconnection from SWIFT, and personal sanctions may be applied to certain categories of Russians.

Bohdan Marusyak