Von der Leyen vows to 'make Kremlin pay' over nuclear war threat with new tough sanctions
The proposed eighth sanctions package includes further import bans on Russian products, expected to deprive Moscow of an additional €7 billion in revenues, and more export bans on key technology used for the military such as aviation items, electronic components and specific chemical substances, Ms von der Leyen announced.
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The EU Commission leader proposed on Wednesday a new package of Russia sanctions, designed "to make the Kremlin pay" for escalating the conflict in Ukraine with what she called "sham" votes in occupied territory. "We do not accept the sham referenda and any kind of annexation in Ukraine, and we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation," she told reporters in Brussels.
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The sanctions package will lay the legal basis for an oil price cap and ban EU citizens from sitting on governing bodies of Russian state-owned companies, she said.
The proposal will now go to the bloc's 27 member countries, which will need to overcome differences on the new sanctions and reach unanimity to implement them.
That may take time despite the EU being spurred into action by Russia's partial military mobilisation, nuclear threats to the West and moving to annex a swath of Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday, a senior economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the EU to further cut money flows to Russia from fossil fuel sales.
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Britain has warned Putin could use "the most unsavoury means" to win the war on Ukraine. Russia has around 6,000 warheads - making it the country with the largest nuclear stockpile.
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The G7 group of industrialised countries - where EU countries Italy, France and Germany are also members - already agreed to put such an oil price cap in place via insurers.
"If you are doing nothing it means you are just prolonging this war with Ukraine, this is just ridiculous, the whole civilised world has to be united on that," Oleg Ustenko told reporters.
While the EU already agreed to stop importing Russian oil starting later this year, Ustenko said the "blood money" would keep on flowing to Moscow unless European companies are banned from insuring seaborne shipments.
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EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged the international community on Wednesday not to recognise the "sham" referendums held by Russia in occupied Ukraine.
"With the illegal referenda organised by Russia, the Kremlin is following the same playbook that we have already seen in Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014," Mr Borrell said in a statement, adding they were violations of international law and the principles of the United Nations charter.
Mr Borrell said the European Union was increasing its list of persons and entities facing sanctions.
Echoing his words, Irish Foreign Affairs minister Simon Coveney also said the referendums are a "sham".
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Mr Coveney said Ireland would not recognise the results of the votes which he described as an attempt by Russia to gain control of parts of Ukraine's sovereign territory.
Speaking during a visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Coveney said: "We think the process has been a sham.
"We think it has been a rushed effort by Russia to try to gain control of parts of Ukraine's sovereign territory.
"We will not recognise the results of referendums that we don't believe truly reflect what people in those parts of Ukraine actually want."
