EU Ambassadors Agree on 11th Package of Sanctions Against Russia

Permanent Representatives of the EU at a meeting on Wednesday approved the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. The Swedish presidency of the EU Council tweeted about it. “Today the EU ambassadors agreed on the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. The package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual lists,” the Swedish presidency said in a statement. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter that she welcomed the political agreement on the 11th sanctions package. “It will deal a further blow to Putin’s war machine through increased export restrictions aimed at entities that support the Kremlin. Our tool to counter the circumvention will prevent Russia from obtaining sanctioned goods,” she said. The European Commission sent proposals for the 11th package of sanctions against Russia to EU member states back in early May. However, the EU ambassadors could not agree on the proposal for weeks. The main reason for the delay was that Greece and Hungary protested against Ukraine putting some of their companies on the list of “war sponsors”. Athens and Budapest wanted their companies to be removed from the list. Details of how the resistance of the two countries was overcome are not yet known. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Kyiv in May that the new sanctions would be aimed at combating the circumvention of trade restrictions already in place.