All week European union officials have been seeking to tighten the extensive package of sanctions on Russia and looking at ways to add a ban on gold exports in hopes that the measures might finally start to have a decisive impact on the war in Ukraine.
Due to
report, the European Union imposed more sanctions on Russia on Thursday over
the war in Ukraine after the bloc's member states backed a series of measures
that would include gold imports and tighten export controls on some
high-technology goods.
European
Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the “reinforced, prolonged EU
sanctions against the Kremlin" send "a strong signal to Moscow: we
will keep the pressure high for as long as it takes."
The
details of the sanctions were still unclear since they still need to be posted
in the EU's official journal.
EU foreign
affairs chief Josep Borrell said Monday that at the moment “the most important
thing is a ban on Russian gold,” which is Moscow’s second-largest export
industry after energy.
The Group
of Seven leading industrial nations last month already committed to a gold ban,
arguing the Russia has used its gold to back up its currency to circumvent the
impact of several rounds of sanctions that nations around the world had already
imposed on Moscow for its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
On top of
the restrictive measures, the EU also decided to grant 500 million euros to
boost military aid to Ukraine.
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