New List of Sanctions on Russia

The European Union has expanded its sanctions list adding 19 individuals and 9 organizations. 

The new restricted measures were published on the official EU journal, TASS Russia News Agency reports.

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister, and lawmaker and prominent singer Joseph Kobzon are on the list. So is three more Russian citizens. The list also includes 14 Ukrainian citizens and nine organizations – militia groupings.

On January 29, EU’s foreign chiefs had an extraordinary meeting in Brussels, to make a list of new names to be targeted for EU travels ban and asset freezes. 


Prolongs until September

According to the Russian news agency Sputnik News the ministers also agreed to prolong until September 2015 the existing curbs against 37 entities and 151 people, including Russian dignitaries and militias in the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

The individual sanctions were initially due to expire on March 15, 2015.

Last Friday European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic confirmed that the new individual sanctions will come info force on February 16. The new sanctions were delayed by a week pending crunch talks on Ukrainian reconciliation in Minsk.


Killings after ceasefire

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany negotiated a 13-point plan, to bring peace to Ukraine. A ceasefire went into effect at midnight Saturday, but less than 90 minutes after it started, Ukrainian officials reported mortar shelling at a military post in the Luhansk region.

Today there has also been reports saying that five Ukrainian security forces are killed, and 22 wounded in a fighting with pro-Russian separatists.


- EU has created this problem

- The European Union (EU) member states are ready to ease or lift the sanctions imposed on Russia when they will have proof that Moscow is doing everything it can to help the case of Ukrainian reconciliation, the European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union, Marcos Sefcovic, reportedly said on Slovak TV last night.

Russia – on the other hand - dont seem to have any intention of holding talks with the EU over the lifting of sanctions, according to TASS.

- Russia has not conducted any talks with the EU over the lifting of sanctions and it has no intention to do so. The European Union has created this problem on its own and it is up to the EU to resolve it, Russia’s EU envoy Vladimir Chizkov told the news agency in an interview.