The 18th package of European Union sanctions against Russia, approved on July 18, will come into force by the end of this week.
This was announced by the deputy chief spokesperson of the European Commission, Arianna Podesta, speaking to media.
The 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia will come into effect by the end of this week, the European Commission spokeswoman emphasized.
“The 18th package of sanctions will come into force in a few days, at the end of the week,” Podesta said.
The European Commission spokeswoman added that the European Commission is currently “fully focused on implementing the sanctions packages that we have already adopted.”
“Sanctions are something that need to be worked on constantly, because there are ways to circumvent them. Therefore, we need to find new ways to implement the sanctions we have approved, and this is part of the natural process,” the European Commission spokeswoman said.
Arianna Podesta added that the Commission “is working on future sanctions to put even more pressure on Russia.”
On July 18, the EU approved a difficult 18th package of EU sanctions against Russia, which took a long time to agree on due to opposition from Slovakia and Malta.
Malta was convinced by the European Commission’s assurances that the proposed sanctions, which concern the price cap on Russian oil, would not lead to an increase in Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico explained that the country had received a written commitment from the European Commission regarding its concerns about the termination of Russian gas supplies in the future.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has already submitted specific proposals for the next, 19th package of EU sanctions.
