Top EU Diplomat Seeks Increase in Sanctioned Russian Entities

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is pushing for the bloc’s most sweeping sanctions listings against Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The proposed measures could increase the number of sanctioned Russian individuals and entities by one-third.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said she wants to increase by one third the number of Russian entities sanctioned over the Ukraine war, German newspaper Die Welt reported Monday.

The bloc has adopted 21 rounds of sanctions against Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“For autumn I am putting forward the most far-reaching sanctions listings since the start of the war,” Kallas told Die Welt.

“Once adopted, they would immediately raise the total number of sanctioned Russian entities by a third,” she was quoted as saying.

The comments came weeks after the EU adopted a watered down sanctions package that was approved after protracted negotiations among member states, some of whom objected to some of the tougher measures.

The sanctions, which Kallas said have deprived Russia’s war machine of “over €1 trillion”, currently target 3,000 individuals and entities, according to the European Commission.