EU adopts new Russia sanctions but delays action

The European Union adopted new sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine war on Monday, but delayed enforcing them to leave time to assess whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is holding. The sanctions, which target the ability of Russia’s top oil producers to raise capital in Europe, were originally due to take effect on Tuesday. But that was pushed back by a few days after some EU governments suggested that new sanctions be put on hold to give a chance to a shaky ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. Some EU countries opposed to further punishment of Moscow see the ceasefire, which was declared on Friday and still largely intact on Monday, as an opportunity to block the new EU sanctions package and avoid retaliation from Russia, diplomats said.

The entry into force (of the new sanctions) through the publication in the Official Journal will take place in the next few days. This will leave time for an assessment of the implementation.

EU Council President, Herman Van Rompuy

An EU diplomat said there was no clarity on when the new sanctions would take effect. Ambassadors would probably discuss the issue next on Wednesday. The EU has always been divided over sanctions on Russia, with countries such as Poland and the Baltics taking a hard line while the prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia have been publicly hostile to sanctions. At Monday’s ambassadors’ meeting, some EU governments wanted to discuss whether the new sanctions should be frozen before being implemented because of the ceasefire in Ukraine, or alternatively if the new sanctions were implemented, how they could be suspended and when. Meanwhile, Russia has warned that it will hit back against the West if tougher sanctions are imposed over the conflict in Ukraine - as a shaky ceasefire in the region holds. Russia Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev blamed countries backing Ukraine for damaging the Russian economy with “stupid” sanctions and suggested Moscow could retaliate by stopping flights over Russian airspace.

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