Russia threatens 'appropriate' response to EU sanctions, expands ban lists

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow will provide an 'appropriate and timely' response to the seventeenth and eighteenth packages of EU sanctions, confirming that these measures are 'unable to affect the country's policy'.

The ministry's statement read: 'The EU sanctions decisions will receive an appropriate response, and in due time,' indicating Moscow's expansion of the list of individuals banned from entering its territory in response to what it described as 'unfriendly actions' from Brussels.

The statement clarified that the expanded list includes 'representatives of European institutions and EU member states and a number of European countries that align with Brussels' anti-Russia policy,' based on the federal law on entry and exit procedures. Russia also added names of European citizens accused of providing military support to Ukraine or 'undermining the security of Russian territories'.

In response, the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, described the new punitive package as 'one of the strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date,' in a post on 'X' platform. She added: 'We further reduce the Kremlin's military budget, target another 105 vessels belonging to the shadow fleet, and limit Russian banks' access to financing,' pointing to tightened restrictions on the Russian military industry and Chinese banks supporting Moscow's evasion of sanctions.

Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement, stating in a similar post: 'The EU strikes at the heart of the Russian war machine,' confirming that the sanctions target banking, energy, and military industries, and include 'a new dynamic ceiling for oil prices.' She affirmed that 'the pressure... will continue until Putin ends this war'.

In contrast, the Kremlin described the new sanctions as 'illegal,' and part of a 'continuous hostile line against Russia,' considering that they will not achieve their goals.