The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has warned of a new wave of sanctions against Russia this fall, signaling an EU effort to further increase economic and political pressure on Moscow.
In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, Kallas said that in the coming months she would propose “the most comprehensive sanctions since the beginning of the war.” According to her, the new measures would increase by about a third the number of Russian individuals and companies currently under sanctions.
"The pressure must continue to increase until Moscow ends the war," Kallas said.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Union has adopted 21 sanctions packages, targeting Russian political and military officials, businessmen, oligarchs, and companies linked to the Russian economy and defense industry.
So far, over 3,000 individuals and entities have been included in the sanctions lists, while more than 28 billion euros in private assets have been frozen in EU countries. If Kallas' proposals are approved, the list could be expanded by around 1,000 more people and entities.
The new sanctions are expected to further target Russia's ability to finance the war in Ukraine, hitting the military sector, industrial base and export activities that provide revenue for Moscow.
Kallas also stated that Russia "has already paid a high price" for the measures imposed by the EU, estimating that the economic cost to Moscow has reached more than one trillion euros.
At the same time, the European official expressed optimism for greater coordination between the US and the EU in sanctions policy against Russia, following the approval in the US Senate of a new bill for punitive measures against Moscow.
