The European Union will include Russian gold exports in the next sanctions package, as decided at the last G7 meeting, European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic announced on Friday ahead of a ministerial meeting in Prague.
The commissioner told Agence France Presse that the new measure will “fill the gaps” that have occurred in previous sanctions packages that were applied against Russia because of the new invasion of Ukraine that took place on February 24.
The European Union has so far adopted six sanctions packages against Russia, including an embargo on a “significant amount” of Russian oil by the end of the year.
The European Union is now considering sanctions on Russian gold exports which the commissioner considers “important raw material for export” from Russia.
The Slovakian European Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, participates this Friday in the meeting of the foreign ministers of the European bloc in the capital of the Czech Republic, the country that holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
“As soon as we reach an agreement between the member states, we will publish” the sanctions, which will allow the new measures to be applied, Sefcovic said.
The proposal that includes the gold embargo will be a “flagship”, diplomatic sources told France Presse.
According to diplomatic sources, European ambassadors will meet next Monday “Immediately adopt” the new sanction.
In June, the United States launched the embargo on Russian gold shortly after a meeting in Germany that brought together representatives of the world’s seven most industrialized countries (G7) committed to opposing ways of financing the Russian war effort.
Gold is “a important source of exports, which will deprive Russia of millions of dollarsUS President Joe Biden said in June.
“We hope that the next package of sanctions, the seventh, will have a strong impact and will be adopted as soon as possible,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, who is attending today’s meeting in Prague, said on Thursday night.
The six packages of sanctions that have already been adopted since the beginning of the new Russian offensive target economic sectors, imposing embargoes on coal and most of the oil, in addition to freezing assets that belonged to more than a thousand officials and ‘oligarchs’ Russians in the countries. of the European Union.
Source: Observadora
