European Union sanctions against Russia took effect Wednesday, targeting senior government officials, several companies and hundreds of lawmakers who voted in favor of recognizing the independence of separatist parts of southeast Ukraine, according to AP News.
The sanctions, mostly a freeze on the assets of those listed and a ban on them traveling in the 27-nation EU, are the first steps in a planned series of retaliatory measures designed to be ramped up should Russian President Vladimir Putin launch an attack or push troops deeper into Ukraine.
Putin signed a decree recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk as independent and appears to be driving Russia’s campaign against Ukraine, but he is not on the EU’s list even though the sanctions target those “who were involved in the illegal decision.”
“The EU will extend restrictive measures to cover all the 351 members of the Russian State Duma, who voted on 15 February in favor of the appeal to President Putin to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk ‘republics’,” EU headquarters said.
A further “27 high profile individuals and entities, who have played a role in undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” including government officials, banks, businesspeople and top military officers, are also in the EU’s sights.
The measures hit banks that finance Russia’s armed forces. They target the ability of Moscow to access EU capital and financial markets and services, and ban EU trade with the two regions so that “those responsible clearly feel the economic consequences of their illegal and aggressive actions.”
The United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan announced plans on Tuesday to also punish Russia with new sanctions to target banks and elites while Germany halted a major gas pipeline project from Russia in one of the worst security crises in Europe in decades.
European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit on Thursday to discuss what to do next over Russia’s recognition of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, after the bloc approved on a first, limited round of sanctions.