The European Union will stop importing Russian oil and ban three Russian state-owned broadcasters as part of a sixth sanctions package over Moscow's war in Ukraine, the bloc's chief executive said on Wednesday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen holds a press conference on Russia's unilateral halt of gas deliveries to certain EU member states at the European Union Commission headquarter in Brussels, Belgium on April 27, 2022. Photo: 2022 Anadolu Agency
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has given details of a sixth package of sanctions to be agreed in the coming days. She listed four separate types of sanctions.
High-ranking military officers who comitted war crimes in Bucha and Mariupol were to be targeted: "We know who you are, you will not get away with this."
Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, is to be disconnected from the SWIFT bank transfer system.
Three big state-owned Russian broadcasters are to be cut off from the EU on cable, satellite or the internet as what von der Leyen called "mouthpieces that amplify Putin's lies".
"They will not be allowed to distribute their content anymore in the European Union, in whatever shape or form, be it on cable, via satellite, on the internet or via smartphone apps.
"We should not give them a stage anymore to spread these lies," she added.
European Union countries will also stop importing Russian oil and refined products.
"We will phase out Russian supply of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year," Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament, prompting applause from lawmakers. "This will be a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined."
"It will not be easy. Some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil. But we simply have to work on it," von der Leyen said of the proposal, which requires approval from all 27 EU countires to take effect.
- Reuters / BBC