EU to ban Russian coal in first energy sanctions over Ukraine
- Oil could be next on the list, with Western countries seeking new ways to punish Moscow as evidence of torture and killings emerge outside Kyiv
- The coal embargo targets Russia’s lucrative energy industry and is estimated to be worth US$4.4 billion a year
European Union countries on Thursday approved new punishing sanctions against Russia, including an EU embargo on coal imports, in the wake of evidence of torture and killings emerging from war zones outside Kyiv.
The ban on coal imports will be the first EU sanctions targeting Russia’s lucrative energy industry over its war in Ukraine and is estimated to be worth €4 billion (US$4.4 billion) per year, the EU presidency, held by France, announced.
In the meantime, the EU has already started working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports.
“The package is very substantial and extends sanctions against Russia to new sectors” and more oligarchs, the presidency said, mentioning officials linked to propaganda, military security and high technology linked to the Ukraine war.
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The deal was given the final political go-ahead in a meeting of EU ambassadors and will be enacted once published in the EU’s official journal, which is likely to happen on Friday. So far, banning natural gas has remained out of reach, but not because of lack of support from the European parliament.