The Europeans decided on Friday to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by freezing their assets in the EU, European diplomatic sources told AFP.
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The measure was discussed during the extraordinary European summit on Thursday in Brussels and was added on Friday to the sanctions package that the foreign ministers will validate, the same sources said.
Germany and Italy on Friday raised their reservations during the summit to this proposal supported by a large number of European leaders, two officials said.
The Europeans have further decided to remove the ability to travel without visas to the EU for holders of Russian service passports in the sanctions package approved by the 27 on Thursday evening.
These measures respond to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to strengthen European sanctions against Russia to punish it for its invasion of Ukraine.
The head of Russian diplomacy on Friday justified the invasion of Ukraine decided by Vladimir Putin and declared that it was a “special military operation for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine so that, freed from this oppression, Ukrainians can freely choose their future”.