MOSCOW, July 29 (RIA Novosti) – The European Union governments have reached a preliminary agreement to impose economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported Tuesday citing an EU source.
An EU diplomat told the agency that the sanctions will affect oil and defense sectors, dual-purpose goods and sensitive technologies.
The restrictions will be reviewed after three months, the agency reported.
The EU also agreed to widen its Ukraine sanctions list adding four Russian companies and imposing asset freezes and travel bans on four businessmen, according to Agence France-Presse. The new sanctions target “persons and entities supporting or benefitting from Russian decision-makers,” in addition to 87 people and 20 organizations already subject to EU sanctions, the agency said.
The United States and the European Union earlier imposed targeted sanctions against a number of Russian officials and companies as a response to Crimea’s reunification with Russia. After the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine, Washington has been pushing the EU to implement further sanctions against Moscow.
Russia’s envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said last week that the sanctions were “a road to nowhere” and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said such actions toward Russia were a way to conceal protectionist measures in the interests of certain companies.
