Poland suggests expanding EU's seventh tranche of sanctions against Russia

On June 7, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau announced that Warsaw suggests expanding the European Union's seventh package of anti-Russia sanctions to cover all energy carriers and banks. It is worth noting that Poland has legally terminated its contract with Russia for natural gas supplies through the Yamal pipeline.

Rau stated, "The sixth package of sanctions adopted by the European Council is an important step towards ensuring Europe 's independence from Russian energy carriers. However, this is not enough." She further added, "We must start working on the seventh package of sanctions, which should include, among other things, the complete cessation of imports of Russian gas and petrochemicals, as well as the disconnection of all Russian and Belarusian banks from the SWIFT system."

Shortly after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Poland proclaimed its intention to discontinue importing Russian coal, gas, and oil, while Russia halted gas deliveries in April in retaliation for Poland's unwillingness to pay for energy in rubles. Further, EU countries have implemented a new set of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

EU's new set of sanctions against Russia

The new penalties include a partial prohibition on oil imports and the exclusion of Russian bank Sberbank from the international SWIFT payment mechanism. The EU estimated that it would take six months to phase out most Russian crude oil imports and eight months to phase out Russian refined oil products. A restriction on broadcasting for three Russian state-owned television channels is also included in the sixth package of EU sanctions.

The package included services, with EU corporations being barred from providing accounting, public relations, and advisory services, as well as cloud services, to Russia. In addition, the EU also put sanctions against those responsible for the horrors that occurred in Bucha and Mariupol. Members of the military administration, other war supporters, leading businessmen and their families, and Kremlin officials are all subject to a travel restriction and asset freeze.

The new sanctions package adds to existing penalties targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as prohibiting the export of luxury items and coal imports, and prohibiting Russian and Belarusian banks from using the SWIFT system.

Image: AP