Circumvention Of Sanctions Main Target In Next EU Package

EU member states' permanent representatives will meet on 10 Mayto discuss the proposed 11th package of sanctions on Russia. The latest package is set to focus primarily on the circumvention of existing restrictions, rather than layering more sanctions on top of the existing measures. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on 9 May (marking the observance of 'Europe Day'), with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for a swift implementation of new measures.

• Politico reportsthat according to a document seen by its staff, the EU will seek to sanction “...persons and entities circumventing the Union’s restrictive measures by activities which have the aim or result of frustrating the prohibitions in those measures. This concerns, for example, companies established in third countries, which obtain goods subject to restrictions from companies established in the Union and which are then supplied to Russia, directly or through intermediaries.”
• Nations such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are said to be the prime targets of such measures with the EU believing that countries close to Moscow are allowing high tech and other sanctioned equipment to enter Russia. The new sanctions would stop EU members selling to countries found to have sent equipment to Russia in breach of existing measures.
• However, some EU members have raised concerns that Turkey or China could become targets of sanctions, risking a broader geopolitical or trade confrontation.