EU imposes sanctions on Putin’s daughters
The European Union has imposed sanctions on two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a new package of measures targeting Russia’s economy, businessmen and oligarchs in retaliation for the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to two EU officials.
The EU included Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova in its updated list of individuals facing an assets freeze and travel ban. The two EU officials from different EU member countries spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Friday because the updated list of individuals and entities sanctioned has not been published yet.
The move from the European bloc follows a similar move two days earlier by the United States.
In the wake of evidence of torture and killings emerging from war zones outside Kyiv, the EU decided to impose a fifth package of measures.
“These latest sanctions were adopted following the atrocities committed by Russian armed forces in Bucha and other places under Russian occupation,” said Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat. “The aim of our sanctions is to stop the reckless, inhuman, and aggressive behavior of the Russian troops and make clear to the decision makers in the Kremlin that their illegal aggression comes at a heavy cost.”
In addition to sanctions on individuals and members of their families, oligarchs and highranking Kremlin officials, the 27nation bloc also formally approved an embargo on coal imports starting in August on Friday, as well as a full transaction ban on four key Russian banks representing 23% of the market share in the Russian banking sector.
Also, vessels registered under the Russian flag are now prohibited access to EU ports, with an exception for agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid and energy.
This is the first time that EU sanctions are targeting Russia’s lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine. According to the EU council, imports of coal into the region are currently worth 8 billion euro per year.
The EU has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports.
EU officials said the impact of the bloc’s sanctions over the first four weeks shows that imports into the 27 nations from Russia dropped off by 9% in terms of value, and over 20% in terms of volume. Trade from the EU to Russia has fallen by three quarters.