Yesterday, the European Commission presented the sixth package of sanctions against Russia. This new package will do the following:

• Make a list of high-ranking military officers and other individuals who are responsible for war crimes in Bucha and responsible for the inhuman siege of the city of Mariupol.
• Expel the Sterbank from SWIFT by far Russia’s largest bank and other major banks (Moscow Credit Bank and Agricultural Bank of Russia).
• Ban the three big Russian state-owned broadcasters from EU airwaves. They will not be allowed to distribute their content anymore in the EU, be it on cable, via satellite, on the internet or via smartphone apps.
• Expel all the accountants, consultants and spin-doctors who are working for the Kremlin from Europe to stop providing their services to Russian companies.
• Propose a ban on Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined. Phase-out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, in a way that allows some countries (Slovakia and Hungary) to secure alternative supply routes and minimizes the impact on global markets. The EU will phase out Russian supply of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year.

Since the onset of the war, the European Union has shown solidarity with Ukraine and begun to provide effective political, economic, financial, humanitarian, and military assistance to the country. The EU imposed five packages of sectoral and individual sanctions. This sixth package of sanctions, which envisages further restrictions on the operations of Russian banks and a total ban on EU imports of Russian oil, was adopted yesterday, 4 May.

Image © European Commission