“Give the opposite effect”: how the EU plans to introduce the ninth package of sanctions against Russia

The European Union is actively working on the preparation of the ninth package of anti-Russian sanctions.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced this at a press conference at Haltia Nature Center.

“We are working hard to hit Russia in the right place to further blunt its ability to conduct military action against Ukraine, and today I can announce that we are developing the ninth package of sanctions as quickly as possible,” she said.

At the same time, the head of the EC did not specify what kind of measures they were talking about, however, she expressed confidence that Brussels would soon be able to achieve a global cap on prices for Russian oil.

“We will not calm down until Ukraine defeats (Russian President Vladimir. -

) Putin,” von der Leyen emphasized.

Against officials and diamonds

Against the backdrop of statements by the EC chairman, Western media, citing their sources, have already provided some details on the package.

Thus, according to the newspaper Politico, the main lobbyists for new anti-Russian measures are Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.

They demand that the SWIFT system be made unavailable to even more Russian banks, limit LNG imports, and ban the transfer of dollar bills to Russia.

In addition, it is proposed to close access to the European real estate market for citizens of the Russian Federation and to ban the import of Russian diamonds.

Later, on November 22, the newspaper also reported that the sanctions under discussion are intended to hit specifically Russian “officials, propagandists and officials” who support the Russian authorities and President Vladimir Putin in particular.

They are pushing Europe with the introduction of another anti-Russian package in Kyiv as well.

So, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Dmitry Kuleba, at a briefing on November 22, said that the issue of the adoption of the ninth set of measures against the Russian Federation had already "long overdue".

According to him, such a situation is absolutely unacceptable.

In this regard, the minister called on his colleagues in the EU to “cast aside all doubts” and prepare new restrictions as soon as possible.

At the same time, he stressed that Europe has no right to get tired of Ukraine.

“If we, Ukrainians, are not tired, then the rest of Europe has neither the moral nor the political right to be tired,” Kuleba said.

• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba

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• © Lev Radin

From sanctions to sanctions

Meanwhile, European authorities began to discuss the ninth package of sanctions almost immediately after the adoption of the previous set of restrictions.

The eighth package was approved on October 6 in response to the admission of new regions to Russia - the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

It, in particular, included a ban on sea transportation of oil from the Russian Federation at a cost above a certain level and on crypto wallets for Russians.

In addition, the embargo was extended on the import of such Russian goods as steel products, wood pulp, paper, cigarettes, plastics, cosmetics and jewelry items.

As the European Commission noted earlier, the new bans will affect supplies from Russia worth €7 billion.

At the same time, as Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas noted in an interview with The Telegraph on October 8, it is increasingly difficult for Europe to maintain unity on the issue of sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Difficulties are also connected with the fact that there are practically no areas left on which the EU can impose further restrictions, she admitted.

Despite this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic called for the adoption of the ninth package of anti-Russian measures.

“It is important for the European Union to continue working on the ninth package of sanctions ... and to impose an oil price ceiling to prevent the financing of the Russian military machine,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said at a press conference on October 25.

At the same time, the goals of new restrictions are being transformed, experts say.

If earlier they were positioned as a tool for forcing Russia to peace in Ukraine, today this vector has changed somewhat.

In particular, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, told reporters on November 14 that Brussels allegedly never claimed that the sanctions were designed to stop the conflict.

“Obviously, our sanctions are weakening the Russian economy.

We never expected sanctions to end the military conflict (in Ukraine. -

), but they definitely weaken the ability of the Russian armed forces to update their material support, ”he said.

• EU flags

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Westend61

His words caused surprise in the EU.

In particular, the State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry for Bilateral Relations, Tamas Menzer, on his Facebook* on November 21, noted that Borrell's statements are not true.

“Josep Borrell is simply not telling the truth.

He now said that the policy of sanctions was never meant to end the conflict.

However, on the contrary, the truth is that Brussels began to pursue a policy of sanctions in order to end it.

So the situation is such that Josep Borrell now denies what the organization he leads was talking about, ”Menzer stated.

"Sanction Rally"

According to Pavel Feldman, Associate Professor of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, Candidate of Political Sciences, the discussion of the next package of restrictions in the EU goes more by inertia due to the inability to break out of the “sanctions rally” launched by the United States and its closest allies.

“Colossal lobbying efforts in this regard are being made by the Baltic countries and Poland, which have chosen for themselves the role of a conductor of the position of the United States in the European Union.

In this way, they want to increase their political importance in the EU, since their economic contribution to the welfare of the Commonwealth is negligible.

At the same time, with each packet, the area for further restrictions narrows.

And, as practice has shown, Western sanctions work primarily against the business and industry of those countries that introduce them, without weakening Russia's defense potential, ”Feldman explained in an interview with RT.

He also noted that, in addition to economic problems, anti-Russian restrictions were also intended to solve political problems aimed at destabilizing the situation inside the Russian Federation and changing the government in the country.

“However, the Westernizers failed neither to bring down the Russian economy nor to stimulate politically motivated unrest among the population of the Russian Federation.

The sovereignty of the country is only getting stronger,” says Feldman.

• Flags of EU countries

• Legion Media

• © Future Image

At the same time, the sanctions have the opposite effect, destroying the economies of the countries whose authorities became the authors of the restrictions, said Vladimir Vinokurov, professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a conversation with RT.

“The economies of the EU countries directly suffer from sanctions, which was repeatedly noted in Hungary.

The shortage of energy resources, which arose after the refusal to purchase them from Russia, leads to a gradual stagnation and decline of the European industry, weakening the competitiveness of their goods in foreign markets due to the high cost.

At the same time, against this background, the Russian Federation is a self-sufficient country that has alternatives to replace European imports,” he says.

In turn, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, noted in a RT commentary that the West today is betting on the long-term effect of sanctions.

“If Russia mainly solves short-term problems, then the postponed ones will require a certain strategic restructuring of the Russian economy and may make themselves felt in the future.

Therefore, European officials believe so much that restrictions are still beneficial to them, ”the analyst explained.

Moreover, today Russia is in no hurry to introduce retaliatory restrictions against the so-called partners, not excluding a return to a constructive dialogue.

And this gives the West a false confidence that it can continue to test Moscow for strength, says Bruter.

“European politicians under the influence of Washington are blindly convinced that they will be able to defeat Russia not only through the hands of the Ukrainians, but also through their own sanctions.

Despite the lack of the desired effect from the restrictions, the EU continues to believe that it is worth a little more patience before the Russian Federation finally gives up its positions.

And in this thought they are supported by the United States, inciting them to new restrictions and assuring that the fall of Russia will create new opportunities for Europeans.

However, in reality, there is only a gradual destruction of the EU itself,” Bruter concluded.

* Meta product, activity recognized as extremist, prohibited on the territory of Russia by decision of the Tverskoy Court of Moscow dated 03/21/2022.