The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union has prepared a package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, which may later become a response to the “Russian aggression” against Ukraine.
“Making it clear that any aggression against Ukraine will be followed by sanctions with large-scale consequences. They are already ready. European countries are united, they act in coordination with the United States and NATO. We are in favor of good relations with Russia, but this depends on its actions. Russia must stop provocations”, Leyen said in an interview with the French weekly Journal du Dimanche, RIA Novosti reports.
Recall that the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia in 2014. The reason was the coup d’état in Ukraine and the referendum held in Crimea. The sanctions restrictions affect the financial, energy and defense sectors of Russia. In addition, the EU limited the access of the Russian side to a number of technologies and services for oil production and exploration.
In turn, the Kremlin has embarked on a course of import substitution. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stressed that it is counterproductive to speak with the Russian Federation in the language of sanctions. Earlier it became known that the EU applied to the World Trade Organization (WTO) with a demand to collect 290 billion euros from Russia for “discrimination” of European goods by the policy of import substitution.