The European Union intends to significantly expand its sanctions against Russia over the coming months, according to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. "In the autumn I will present the most far-reaching sanctions list since the beginning of the war. If it is adopted, the number of sanctioned Russian individuals, companies and organisations will immediately increase by a third," Kallas told the newspaper "Welt" in its Monday edition.
According to figures from the European Commission, the sanctions currently target almost 3,000 people and entities. "The pressure must be increased until Russia ends the war," Kallas continued.
Kallas also voiced the hope that the United States and Europe would once again "move closer together" when it comes to sanctions. She described the 21 sanctions packages adopted since the start of the war in February 2022 as a success. "Russia has paid dearly for the EU sanctions to this day; they have already cost Russia's war machine more than one trillion euros," she said.
At the same time, Kallas accused Moscow of "systematic terror". "Moscow's army is not winning on the battlefield and is therefore increasingly aiming its missiles at Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure. That is systematic terror," Kallas said. "Russia wants to make Ukrainian cities uninhabitable."
Russia has been attacking Ukraine with drones and missiles almost daily since the start of its war of aggression in February 2022. According to the UN human rights monitoring mission, last month was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since May 2022: a total of 437 people were killed and 2,610 injured in Russian attacks in July. For several months now, Ukraine has been responding with air strikes reaching deep inside Russian territory.
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