Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Thursday, February 2, 2023

EU plans new Russia sanctions ahead of Ukraine war anniversary

By AFP 2 February 2023, 2:27 pm 0 Edit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen give a joint press conference after talks in Kyiv on February 2, 2023. (Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP)

The European Union plans to slap Russia with fresh sanctions by the anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says on a visit to Kyiv.

“We will introduce with our G7 partners an additional price cap on Russian petroleum products, and by the 24th of February — exactly one year since the invasion started — we aim to have the 10th package of sanctions in place,” von der Leyen says during a press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Existing sanctions are “eroding” Russia’s economy, she says, and “throwing it back by a generation,” estimating that an existing oil price cap alone is costing Moscow around 160 million euros every day.