The European Union’s summit officially confirmed that sanctions against Russia will be expanded, according to the summit’s final communique distributed in Brussels.
Additional sanctions agreed at a European Union summit envision putting new individuals and companies on a blacklist for Russia and Ukraine, a diplomatic source said on the sidelines of the EU summit.
The source said the talk was about entities whose actions undermine Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
As of now, the EU blacklist contains 72 individuals, including Russian politicians and officials, as well as militia leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine. Besides, there are two Crimean companies on that list.
Western nations have subjected some Russian officials and companies to targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, following Crimea’s incorporation by Russia in mid-March.
Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
The West, led by the United States, has threatened Russia with further punitive measures, including economic ones, for incorporation of Crimea and what the West claimed was Moscow’s alleged involvement in protests of federalization supporters in Ukraine’s embattled Southeast.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations that it could in any way be involved in protests in the Southeast of Ukraine, which started after Crimea refused to recognize the authorities propelled to power during a coup in Ukraine in February and reunified with Russia in mid-March after some 60 years as part of Ukraine.
Moscow has rejected the threats of broader sanctions saying the language of penalties is counterproductive and will strike back at Western countries.
Pro-Kiev troops and local militias in the southeastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Lugansk regions are involved in fierce clashes as the Ukrainian armed forces are conducting a military operation to regain control over the breakaway regions, which on May 11 proclaimed their independence at local referendums.
During the military operation, conducted since mid-April, Kiev has used armored vehicles, heavy artillery and attack aviation. According to Ukraine’s Health Ministry, 478 civilians have been killed and 1,392 wounded in it. Many buildings have been destroyed and tens of thousands of people have had to flee Ukraine’s war-torn Southeast.
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