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The day before, the ninth package of anti-Russian sanctions has been agreed upon, with a written procedure to be completed today, as reported by Reuters.
According to TASS, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced a new package of sanctions against Russia back on December 6. It was proposed to include almost 200 individuals and organizations, three banks of Russia, as well as companies working in the military-industrial and mining sectors. In addition, the EU planned to impose a ban on the broadcasting of four Russian television channels.
The U.S. is expanding its sanctions list. According to Lenta.ru, the list includes Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, billionaire Vladimir Potanin, Russian Railways head Oleg Belozerov, as well as 29 governors. At a briefing the day before, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the sanctions list included “the top of the Russian elite.” It is noteworthy that, as reported by RBC, citing EUObserver, the black list included director Nikita Mikhalkov, TV presenter Boris Korchevnikov, singer Grigory Leps and even blogger Dmitry Puchkov along with the Russian elite.
Meanwhile, there were reports earlier that the European Union might postpone adoption of this package of sanctions for some time, as the Baltic States and Poland have a different position on grain exports from Russia. According to Lenta.ru, later, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel said that a number of EU countries disagreed with the details of the new package of sanctions. In his opinion, concerns were expressed not only by Hungary, but by other countries as well. For example, the Netherlands, Germany and France demanded adjustments for exports of Russian food and fertilizers to developing countries.
According to Lenta.ru, the new package of sanctions bans exports to Russia of dual-use goods that can be used in aviation, the space industry, as well as the military-industrial complex and a number of other industries. As part of this sanctions package it is prohibited to supply Russia with aircraft engines as well as components for them. Laptops, hard drives, cameras and lenses are also banned.
According to media reports, the European Union intends to use the new sanctions to stop the build-up of industrial capacity in 169 organizations whose products contribute to the technological improvement of the Russian defense sector. Engines for drones, as well as various biological and chemical equipment are under the sanctions. The so called riot control means, which, according to the calculations of Western strategists, should have long covered Russia were also included in the new package of sanctions.
According to RIA Novosti, the final procedure for the new sanctions package, which will be published in the official journal of the European Union, will be completed today.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that the restrictions are “insane and thoughtless,” and they “have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy.” As reported by RBC, according to Putin, the West intended to destroy Russia's economy, but “it didn't justify itself.” The main purpose of all these countless sanctions is to make the lives of millions of people worse, which is exactly what is happening, but there are also citizens of EU countries among these millions.