Ukraine: new package of EU sanctions, three Chinese firms under attack

“Twenty Seven” attack the supply of the Russian military machine. This Wednesday, EU ambassadors agreed on a new package of sanctions related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is aimed, in particular, at three Chinese firms suspected of supplying Putin’s army.

This 13th round of sanctions, which will come into force days before the second anniversary of the invasion, plans in part to restrict EU companies’ trade with three mainland Chinese companies supplying Kremlin forces deployed in Ukraine. He also keeps North Korea’s defense minister blacklisted for sending missiles and shells to Moscow. Companies from India, Turkey and Serbia have also been targeted for their contributions to Russia’s war effort.

The EU blacklist includes more than 2,000 people or organizations, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, on whom the EU thus maintains “pressure on the Kremlin.” “We must continue to degrade Putin’s war machine,” she said on X.

European sanctions include a freeze of assets in the EU and a ban on entry into the Union for relevant persons. The latest sanctions still have to be finalized by the Twenty-Seven before February 24, the date of Russia’s two-year invasion of Ukraine.

Hungary momentarily blocked passage of this new sanctions package, but ultimately decided not to veto it. “I think the European Union is making the wrong decision,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said this week. “It has been proven that these sanctions packages affect Europe much more than the Russian economy,” he added.

Despite sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States, Russia’s almost exclusively war-oriented economy returned to growth in 2023. priority defense sector.