BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Thursday tightened economic sanctions against Russia, further tightening sanctions on U.S. President Donald. President Trump’s new punitive measures The day before, it faced off against the Russian oil industry. Russian officials and state media dismissed Western measures as having little effect.
The sanctions are intended as part of a broader effort to cut off fuel revenues and supplies. Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine He then forced Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war.
The move is a victory for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has long urged the international community to more comprehensively punish Russia for attacking his country.
“We have been waiting for this. God bless us, it will work out. And this is very important,” Zelenskiy said in Brussels, where EU countries participating in the summit announced the latest sanctions against Russia.
in spite of US-led peace effort In recent months, European leaders have warned that the nearly four-year war has shown no signs of ending. increasingly concerned About the Russian threat.
Ukrainian forces have largely held off large Russian forces. slow and devastating war of attrition Along a front of about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) that snakes along eastern and southern Ukraine. It is targeted by Russian long-range attacks almost every day. Ukraine power grid Before the onset of the harsh winter, the Ukrainian army Targeted Russian refineries and a manufacturing factory.
targeted sanctions
Energy income is The cornerstone of the Russian economyThis would allow Putin to pump money into the military without exacerbating inflation, averting a crisis. currency collapse.
The EU measures specifically target Russian oil and gas. They banned the import of Russian liquefied natural gas into the region and added a ban on more than 100 new ships from entering the port. Russia’s Shadow Fleet Hundreds of aging tankers are evading sanctions. The latest sanctions bring the total number of such vessels banned to 557.
The measure also targets transactions with cryptocurrencies, which Russia is increasingly using to circumvent sanctions. Banning operations within the bloc using Russian payment cards and systems. restricting the provision of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing services to Russian companies; It would also expand the export ban to include electronic components, chemicals and metals used in military manufacturing.
A new system will also be introduced to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats within the 27-nation EU.
international crude oil price It jumped more than $2 per barrel. Thursday brings news of additional sanctions.
Power relationship between Trump and Putin
US sanctions on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil were imposed after President Trump said: Plan a quick meeting His meeting with President Putin had been put on hold because he did not want to “waste time.” It was the latest development in Trump’s fervent efforts to end the war, as Putin refuses to budge on his demands.
However, the sanctions will only take effect for about a month until November 21, which could give President Putin a chance to change his mind.
“This is a window where we hope Russia will engage more seriously, and if that happens, sanctions could be suspended,” said Chris Wiefer, CEO of consultancy Macro Advisory.
US sanctions will not have an immediate impact, but will hurt the Russian government’s revenue over time.
“There’s no doubt that all oil buyers in Asia today are trying to find a way to buy Russian crude before the sanctions kick in,” Wiefer told The Associated Press from London. “So Russia will be selling a lot of oil over the next 30 days, which will probably help the budget for several months.”
He also noted that, unlike European sanctions, US measures come with the threat of secondary penalties for violators. china and india is a major importer of Russian oil.
Russia ignores sanctions
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the new U.S. sanctions were “totally counterproductive, including in terms of sending a favorable signal to the Ukraine conflict and achieving a meaningful negotiated solution.”
“If the current US administration follows the example of the previous administration, which forced or tried to coerce Russia into sacrificing its national interests through illegal sanctions, the result will be exactly the same. Disastrous from a domestic political point of view and detrimental to global economic stability,” Zakharova said.
Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, said Thursday that with the new sanctions, President Trump is “fully on the path to war against Russia.”
Most state-run and pro-Kremlin Russian media shrugged their shoulders at the news.
Komsomolskaya Pravda, a popular pro-Kremlin tabloid, said: “With or without pressure, things cannot get any sweeter for Zelensky. Moreover, peace cannot get any closer.”
Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti said in a column that the new sanctions were “painful, as always, but not fatal, and as always.”
Analysts say the effectiveness of economic sanctions in forcing Putin’s hand is questionable. Although the Russian economy has so far proven resilient, showing signs of stress.
It took nearly a month for the EU’s new measures to be decided. The block has already been slapped 18 packages Sanctions against Russia over the war will be tightened, but a final agreement on who and what will be targeted could take weeks. Moscow has also proven adept at evading sanctions.
President Putin appeared on Wednesday to publicly remind Russia of its nuclear arsenal. directed training One of the country’s strategic nuclear forces.
In a separate development, Russian drones killed two Ukrainian journalists in the Donetsk region on Thursday, the head of the regional administration, Vadim Filashkin, announced. Journalists Olena Khubanova and Yevhen Karmazin worked for Ukraine’s Freedom TV channel.
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Harriet Morris in Tallinn, Estonia, and Ilya Novikov in Kiev, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the Ukraine war. https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
