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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Tuesday that he and Western leaders have discussed a new round of sanctions against Russia.

“After what the world saw in Bucha, the sanctions against Russia must be commensurate with the gravity of the war crimes committed by the occupiers,” Mr. Zelensky said in his daily nighttime video address to the country.

In co-ordination with the European Union and Group of Seven nations, the United States will roll out more sanctions against Russia on Wednesday. That reportedly will include a ban on all new investment in the country.

The U.S. sanctions will increase curbs on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises in Russia and target Russian government officials and their families, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.

“Tomorrow, what we’re going to announce … in co-ordination with the G7 and EU, [is] an additional sweeping package of sanctions measures that will impose costs on Russia and send it further down the road of economic, financial and technological isolation,” Ms. Psaki said, noting that the G7 and EU comprised around 50 per cent of the global economy.

The measures will “degrade key instruments of Russian state power, impose acute and immediate economic harm on Russia, and hold accountable the Russian kleptocracy that funds and supports [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war,” she said.

She declined to comment on reports that the sanctions would target the daughters of Mr. Putin.

Also, the EU’s executive branch has proposed a ban on coal imports from Russia in what would be the first time the 27-nation bloc has sanctioned the country’s lucrative energy industry over the war.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU needed to increase the pressure on Mr. Putin after what she described as “heinous crimes” carried out around Kyiv, with evidence that Russian troops may have deliberately killed Ukrainian civilians.

Ms. von der Leyen said the ban on coal imports is worth €4-billion (US$4.4-billion) a year and that the EU has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports.

She didn’t mention natural gas, with consensus among the 27 EU countries on targeting the fuel used to generate electricity and heat homes difficult to secure amid opposition from gas-dependent members such as Germany, the bloc’s largest economy.

Until now, Europe had not been willing to target Russian energy over fears that it would plunge the European economy into recession. Europe’s dependence on Russian oil, natural gas and coal means finding unanimity on energy measures is a tall order, but the recent reports of civilian killings have increased pressure for tougher EU sanctions.

The U.S. and Britain previously announced they were cutting off Russian oil. Individual EU countries have announced efforts to draw down their energy reliance on Russia: Poland says it plans to block imports of coal and oil from the country, while Lithuania said it’s no longer using Russian natural gas.

“To take a clear stand is not only crucial for us in Europe but also for the rest of the world,” Ms. von der Leyen said. “A clear stand against Putin’s war of choice. A clear stand against the massacre of civilians. And a clear stand against the violation of the fundamental principles of the world order.”

Energy policy expert Simone Tagliapietra with the Bruegel think tank in Brussels said coal represented €20-million in revenue for Russia from Europe per day at current prices, compared with €850-million a day for oil and gas.

The coal ban “is important because it breaks the energy taboo,” he said, but is not “a game changer. … Targeting coal for the moment is too prudent, it’s too symbolic and the time for symbolic measures is gone.”

“It’s not with coal that Putin can get rich or sustain the funding of the war. The big flow of money is certainly oil and gas, not coal, and that’s the issue.”

The proposal still must be adopted unanimously by all 27 EU countries and is included among a new package of sanctions.

Other measures proposed by the EU’s executive arm include sanctions on more individuals and four key Russian banks, among them VTB, the second-largest Russian bank.

“These four banks, which we now totally cut off from the markets, represent 23 per cent of market share in the Russian banking sector,” Ms. von der Leyen said. “This will further weaken Russia’s financial system.”

The bloc also would ban Russian vessels and Russian-operated vessels from EU ports, with exceptions for essentials such as agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid and energy.

Further targeted export bans, worth €10-billion, in sectors covering quantum computers, advanced semiconductors, sensitive machinery and transportation equipment also were proposed.

“With this, we will continue to degrade Russia’s technological base and industrial capacity,” Ms. von der Leyen said.

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