The EU Commission President presents another package of measures against Russia.
(Photo: Reuters)
Brussels The EU imposed a fourth set of sanctions and measures against Russia early on Sunday evening in connection with the war of aggression against Ukraine. There is a novelty: According to a proposal by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Ukraine should get weapons and equipment from the European Union for 500 million euros. The permanent representatives of the 27 member states agreed on this on Sunday evening in Brussels, as several diplomats from the German Press Agency confirmed.
The money is to come from the so-called “European Peace Facility”. It is a new EU financing instrument that can also be used to strengthen the capabilities of armed forces in partner countries.
For the period from 2021 to 2027, the “Peace Facility” is endowed with around five billion euros. According to the proposal, 450 million euros are planned for weapons, 50 million euros for other equipment. It would be the first time that the EU directly buys military equipment.
At the same time, sanctions were tightened against Belarus, whose President Alexander Lukashenko von der Leyen described as “the other aggressor in this war”. The EU will apply to Belarus the same export restrictions on dual-use items that apply to Russia. This refers to products and technologies that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
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“At the same time, this will eliminate any risk that our measures against Russia will be circumvented in this way,” said the EU Commission President. Without giving further details, she also stated that all Belarusian citizens who support Russia’s war efforts would be sanctioned.
In addition, the Russian state media RT and Sputnik will be banned in the EU. They would no longer be able to spread lies to justify Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine and sow division in the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels on Sunday.
EU sanctions against Russia
As a further sanction measure, the airspace over the EU countries is to be completely closed to Russian aircraft. “We propose a ban on all Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft,” von der Leyen said.
The airspace will be closed to all Russian aircraft, including the private jets of oligarchs. They could at least fly to Switzerland.
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Individual countries – including Germany – had previously blocked their airspace for Russian aircraft. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing, for example, announced on Sunday night that he was in favor of a corresponding closure of German airspace and had ordered everything to be prepared for it.
The measure went into effect a few hours later. Russian aircraft are now only allowed to use German airspace in a few exceptional cases, such as for humanitarian purposes, according to information from the aviation security organization Eurocontrol. In addition to Germany, Poland, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Austria and the Baltic and Scandinavian EU countries had previously announced and implemented this step.
In return, Russia closed its airspace to aircraft from a number of EU countries on Sunday night. According to a statement from the Russian aviation authority, machines from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia are no longer allowed to fly over Russian territory, as reported by the Tass agency. This is a reaction to corresponding steps by these states.
Many EU countries had recommended their own machines to avoid Russian airspace. Lufthansa will also no longer be flying there for the time being.
More: All current developments in the war against Ukraine in the live blog.