Sanctions

EU publishes Russia sanctions list: Energy, finance, defense targeted
Arms producer Kalashnikov and oil giant Rosneft are among Russian companies hit by a new round of EU sanctions, which have come into effect Friday morning upon being published in the EU Official Journal. The sanctions target the finance, energy and defense sectors. The union has restricted three Russian energy companies from raising long-term debt on European capital markets – Rosneft, Transn [...]
Save
EC suspends aid to farmers hit by Russian food ban after claims exceed annual trade
The European Commission has suspended its aid to European farmers hit by the Russian import ban. The amount of submitted claims for some products is several times higher than EU’s annual trade with Russia, with some sources blaming Poland for the exaggerations. [...]
Save
Latest Russia sanctions will take effect Friday, EU says
European Commission head Herman Van Rompuy confirmed the EU will unleash a new round of sanctions against Russia on September 12. The economic sanctions will reportedly target Russia's energy, finance, and defense sectors. The new limitations will come into effect after they are published in the official journal of the European Union on Friday. [...]
Save
Polio epidemic fears as Ukraine’s vaccine stockpiles dry up
Ukraine may face epidemics of preventable diseases like polio due to a government failure to stockpile vaccines and organize inoculation, the UN's health body warned. The shortage is aggravated by devaluation and a planned ban on Russian drugs. The healthcare system of Ukraine was not in good shape to start with, and the political crisis and the subsequent civil war further damaged it, the Worl [...]
Save
Rosneft may get $40bn “get out of debt free” check from Kremlin
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said the state-owned oil giant Rosneft could receive more than $40 billion in financial aid from the Russian government. The country’s largest crude producer may receive up to $40.6 billion (1.5 trillion rubles) in assistance from Russia’s National Welfare Fund. [...]
Save
Airlines lose billions amid rumors of trans-Siberian flight blockade
Major airlines saw stock shares nosedive on Wednesday, after media reports said that Russia could block flights over Siberia. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the reports are simply rumors. “I’m not an advocate of using the method of bans and creating real problems for passengers, ordinary citizens who have absolutely no connection to the actions of those who unleashed t [...]
Save
If new EU sanctions hit energy sector, Russia may close airspace – Medvedev
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has warned Russia may shut its air corridors to Western airlines if the next round of European sanctions hit Russian energy companies. "If there are sanctions related to the energy sector, or further restrictions on Russia's financial sector, we will have to respond asymmetrically,” Medvedev said in an interview with the Vedomosti newspaper, published on Monday. [...]
Save
Crisis in Ukraine is ‘all EU’s fault’ – France’s Marine Le Pen
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front party, says the EU is to blame for the crisis in Ukraine as it forced the situation where Kiev had to choose between East and West. Now that France is joining sanctions against Russia over the alleged direct interference in the political crisis in Ukraine and Paris is considering suspending the €1.2 billion deal of two Mistral hel [...]
Save
French protesters unite against govt’s suspension of Mistral delivery to Russia (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Dozens of people gathered in the harbor of Saint-Nazaire in western France on Sunday to protest against the French government's decision to suspend the delivery of a Mistral warship to Russia. Some two hundred protesters gathered by the docked Vladivostok – the first of two Mistral-class helicopter carrier ships – holding banners that read, "Hollande wants to kill Saint-Nazaire. [...]
Save
Lithuania asks EU for $60mn compensation over Russian embargo
Lithuania has asked the European Commission to allocate €46 million ($60 million) as compensation for Russian food embargo losses. Slovakia has also asked the EU to lift some sanctions against Russia to partially allow exports. Vilnius is expecting to receive at least part of the requested compensation, as Brussels sees Lithuania as one of the countries most affected by the Russian sanctions, [...]
Save
UK says new Russian sanctions could be lifted if ceasefire holds
UK PM David Cameron said new sanctions against Russia could be lifted if the warring sides in Ukraine's conflict agree to honor a ceasefire, the details of which have now been finalized. Germany and France echoed the sentiment. Negotiators from Kiev, eastern Ukraine rebels, Russia and the OSCE are in Minsk, and a ceasefire between the warring sides has been signed as of Friday afternoon. The ce [...]
Save
Russian food ban to cost EU $6.6bn a year – internal document
Russia's decision to impose a food embargo in response to Western sanctions may cost the European Union €5 billion ($6.6 billion) a year, according to an internal EU document. "The overall temporary restrictions currently applied by Russia potentially jeopardize €5 billion worth of trade," the report seen by Reuters states. [...]
Save
France says it cannot deliver Mistral warship to Russia over Ukraine
France has suspended delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carrier ships to Russia, due to events in eastern Ukraine. “The situation is serious. Russia’s recent actions in the east of Ukraine contravene the fundamental principles of European security,” said a statement from the office of President Francois Hollande. [...]
Save
EU considering banning Russian state firms borrowing – report
The EU is considering forbidding all Russian state-owned firms from borrowing or raising money on European capital markets in the possible next round of sanctions against Russia being prepared by the European Commission. This and other proposals were discussed at a meeting of European ambassadors in Brussels on Monday, Reuters reports citing diplomatic sources. [...]
Save
Targeting Russia, hitting own businesses and people – State Duma Speaker on EU sanctions
Russian Parliament speaker Sergey Naryshkin has accused the US of influencing the EU into imposing sanctions on his country without knowing "the actual reasons behind the situation in Ukraine" and says Europe "will have to pay the price for this policy." The European Union recently put you on its blacklist. You are even banned from traveling to Europe. It is a pretty unique situation for the sp [...]
Save
Australia imposes new round of sanctions against Russia
The Australian government on Monday unveiled further sanctions against Russian oil and gas, financial and defense sectors, bringing Canberra in line with the European Union. Under the new sanctions there will be no new arms exports and no new exports for the oil and gas industry, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the Australian parliament. [...]
Save
Lawmakers seek to fast track law on personal data storage in Russia
A group of State Duma MPs want to speed up the enforcement of the recently-approved law obliging all web firms, including social networks, to store the personal data of Russian users on the country's territory. The suggestion is being sponsored by lawmakers from parliamentary majority party United Russia, nationalist party LDPR and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. They say that th [...]
Save
Lavrov: US, EU must demand Kiev stop using heavy artillery, airstrikes against civilians
Russia's foreign minister believes that the peace plan offered by the Ukrainian president is "unrealistic" and calls of the US and the EU to persuade Kiev to stop using heavy artillery and airstrikes against the civilian population in the country's east. “We assume that the most important thing is for Washington and Brussels to demand Kiev do the same thing they demand in any other conflict: [...]
Save
Moscow warns of reprisal over Poland’s “outrageous” airspace closure for Russian Defense Minister’s jet
Polish closure of its airspace for the plane of the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu will not go without an "appropriate response" as it caused a "real threat to flight safety," Russia's Foreign Ministry has stated. The diplomatic standoff on Friday took hours [...]
Save
UK seeking to bar Russia from using SWIFT banking network – report
The British government will press other European nations at a meeting in Brussels on Saturday to block Russia from using the SWIFT banking network, Bloomberg reported, in what could be a dramatic expansion of sanctions. The British government will press other European nations at a meeting in Brussels on Saturday to block Russia from using the SWIFT banking network, Bloomberg reported, in what c [...]
Save
Iran slams new round of US sanctions as “invasion”, says they violate nuclear deal
Iran's president has condemned as an "invasion" new sanctions on around 30 firms, banks and individuals, imposed by the US amid stalled talks on Tehran's nuclear program. Iran believes Washington's move contradicts earlier agreements. "Sanctions are an invasion of the Iranian nation. We should resist the invasion and put the invaders in their place," Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told offici [...]
Save
Russia will do whatever necessary to protect its legitimate interests – Lavrov
Russia doesn't want to escalate tit-for-tat sanctions with the West, but is ready to do whatever is necessary to protect its legitimate interests, including those of national security in all its dimensions, Russia's FM told The Daily Telegraph. Peace in Ukraine can only be attained through a broad national dialogue that includes all regions and its terms cannot simply be dictated by a “govern [...]
Save