The European Union is considering imposing secondary sanctions on Russia’s partners as part of its 19th package of restrictions to be discussed at an informal EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Copenhagen on August 29-30, APA reports citing Bloomberg.
"The EU has historically been averse to imposing secondary sanctions," the news agency said. "But as the EU prepares the new package of sanctions against Russia - which should be ready in a matter of weeks - it appears to have arrived at the limits of what it can do with sanctions targeting Russia directly," Bloomberg continued.
According to it, these secondary sanctions may prevent third countries from circumventing the existing anti-Russian restrictions and include a ban on the export, supply or transfer of certain goods to third countries suspected in the EU of aiding sanctions circumvention.
The people told Bloomberg that the next package of restrictions is expected to target a black list of people accused by Brussels of kidnapping Ukrainian children - actually a Russian evacuation of children from the combat zone in new Russian regions. In addition, Bloomberg said, the ministers are also mulling new measures targeting Russia’s oil, gas and banking sectors.
However, as the upcoming discussions will be held in an informal format, they won’t be focused on the fresh sanctions package.
