European Commission proposes new round of sanctions on Russia

Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

| Photo: EFE

)26213757 26213757 The European Commission will propose to the countries of the European Union (EU) a new battery of sanctions against Moscow that will include the paralysis of the assets of the Central Bank of Russia, the exclusion of several Russian banks from the Swift interbank payment system and the banning of Russian oligarchs from using their assets in European markets.

“All these measures will significantly harm Putin’s ability to finance his war. They will have an erosive impact on the economy. Putin has embarked on a path destined to destroy Ukraine, but what he is also actually doing is destroying the future of its own country,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a live address Saturday night.

The measures, which the president of the Community Executive considered “a significant reinforcement of the international response” to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will be applied in close c coordination with the leaders of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom, he added.

Shortly after his speech, the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States issued a joint communiqué in which they promised to coordinate the adoption of restrictive economic measures against Russia.

The shutdown of the assets of the Central Bank of Russia, according to Von der Leyen , will freeze the entity’s transactions “to the point of making it impossible for the Central Bank to liquidate its assets”, which will prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from “using his war fund”.

In turn, the exclusion of “certain Russian banks” from the Swift system will ensure their “disconnection from the international financial system and harm its ability to operate globally.”

“We are also committed to withdrawing other russian banks from Swift as appropriate. Swift is the world’s dominant global interbank payment system. Excluding banks will prevent them from carrying out most of their financial transactions worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports,” Von der Leyen highlighted.

26213757″We will work to ban Russian oligarchs from using their financial assets in our markets,” added the President of the European Commission.

The purpose of these new measures, according to Von der Leyen, is “to continue to impose costs on Russia that further isolate it from the international financial system and Western economies”, as well as “undermining Putin’s ability to finance his war machine.”