the European Union agrees on a new package of sanctions against Russia

The ambassadors of the European Union countries agreed on Wednesday February 21 on a thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia. This announcement from the Belgian presidency of the EU comes as the war in Ukraine will enter its third year on Saturday.

The new measures include limiting EU companies’ trade with three mainland Chinese companies that have supplied the Russian army. It also retains the blacklisting of the North Korean defense minister for having sent missiles and shells to Moscow. Companies from India, Turkey and Serbia have also been targeted for contributing to the Russian war effort.

Hungary has given up its veto

The EU blacklist includes more than 2,000 people or entities, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for whom the EU maintains this “pressure on the Kremlin”. “We must continue to degrade Putin’s war machine”, she said on They must still be definitively adopted by the 27 members before February 24, the date two years ago of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I welcome the agreement on our 13th sanctions package against Russia
⁰We must keep degrading Putin’s war machine.
⁰With 2000 listings in total, we keep the pressure high on the Kremlin.
⁰We are also further cutting Russia’s access to drones. https://t.co/AfSxsEUB8x

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 21, 2024

Hungary had for a moment blocked the adoption of this new package of sanctions, but ultimately decided not to veto it. “I think the European Union is making the wrong decision”however, declared Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto this week. “It has been proven that these sanctions packages impact Europe much more than the Russian economy”he added.