EU Confirms Plans to Sanction Third Countries Supporting Russia

On Monday, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, confirmed that the new sanctions package against Russia could target companies and countries that help Russia acquire sanctioned goods.

According to Euronews, von der Leyen stated that the measures are "basically a warning that we are serious about our sanction that we could ban these goods from going to that third country if there is clear evidence that this is a circumvention of sanctions and deliverable deliveries to Russia."

"We see that there is a discrepancy between what starts in the European Union, transits Russia and then ends up in the third country. And therefore, we are discussing as a deterrent the question of whether there should be such a transit ban. There are several watch points within the mechanism to make sure that it is justified," she explained.

The head of the European Commission did not specify how this mechanism will work but mentioned that there will be "several checkpoints" that will confirm the need for restrictions.

She also added that the new sanctions package may expand the list of EU goods prohibited for transit through Russia.

Previously, it was not officially reported about such restrictions. However, the EU confirmed that the import of goods such as semiconductors and integrated circuits to Russia from countries such as Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Türkiye, China, and others sharply increased with the full-scale war in Ukraine.

Last week, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that the new sanctions would target circumventing already imposed trade restrictions and would be developed "in very close coordination" with the G7 countries.

According to media reports, the European Union is also proposing to officially stop supplying Russian oil to Germany and Poland.