EC proposes 9th package of sanctions against Russia

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it favoured new sanctions against three additional Russian banks and new export controls and restrictions, especially for dual-use goods like key chemicals, nerve agents, electronics and IT components, Reuters reported.

She added that the eight packages of sanctions the EU had introduced so far are already biting hard and now the bloc wanted to raise the pressure on Russia with a ninth package.

Sanctions require the unanimous backing of all the bloc's 27 member states, but most of the measures proposed in the first eight packages were approved by their representative European Council within weeks, though some were dropped or watered down.

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