Pretty huge that EU bans loans of longer than 3 months to Russia's biggest bank + biggest high street lender Sberbank http://t.co/dDkX01hun0
— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) July 31, 2014
And here's phrase in new #EU sanctions that provides #France carve-out to continue w/#Mistral sale to Russian navy pic.twitter.com/vQYO1oCvYe
— Peter Spiegel (@SpiegelPeter) July 31, 2014
Commander of #Donetsk separatists Strelkov announces that any offences will be dealt with by his military tribunal http://t.co/nuBT6VTocz
— Bojan Pancevski (@bopanc) July 31, 2014
RFE/RL's news desk has issued this brief summary of the sanction details published today on the website of the EU's official journal:
The European Union formally adopted broad economic sanctions against Russia today, in response to Moscow's actions in eastern Ukraine.
An EU statement said the new measures, agreed on July 29, target Russia's banking, defense and energy sectors in view of its "actions destabilizing the situation in eastern Ukraine."
The move limits access by Russian state-owned banks to Europe's financial markets which will increase their cost of doing business and hinder their contribution to the economy.
Five banks were named, among them the largest in Russia -- Sberbank -- as well as VTB, Gazprombank, VEB, and Rosselkhozbank.
EU nationals and companies will no longer be allowed to buy or sell new bonds, stocks or other debt instruments with maturity of more than 90 days issued by such banks.
Sales of arms and dual-use technology are banned, along with sensitive technologies in the oil sector but not gas, where Russia supplies about a third of the EU's needs.
There's a very sad story here of a slain Ukrainian soldier, whose mother reportedly recieved a taunting letter from his pro-separatist killers. They accused him of "invading their land" (from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service).
Detail junkies can get the nitty gritty on the European Union's latest sanctions against Russia from the EU's official journal.
Well, that's kind of awkward:
Russia's VTB bank gets awards in U.S. despite sanctions http://t.co/lwjsjHyg08 | @WSJ via @CoilinOConnor
— RPW (@RusPoliceWatch) July 31, 2014
You've heard there's a war on in east #Ukraine, right? Well, you know more than the UK Home Office apparently... http://t.co/ECn6jkAWgA
— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) July 31, 2014
Some more news on Russian food bans:
Russia's Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) says it will suspend Ukrainian soy, soymeal, and sunflower seed imports starting from August 1.
The Interfax news agency cited the service as saying the move was prompted by a breach of phytosanitary requirements.
Earlier today, Russia's consumer protection watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, suspended the import of Ukrainian fruit and vegetable juice, citing a lack of proper state registration.
The moves follow the latest round of Western sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.
Russia has already banned imports of dairy products, canned vegetables, fruits, and fish from Ukraine.
Russia has also restricted imports of fruits and vegetables from Poland, and banned fruit imports from Moldova.
The European Union and the United States imposed sanctions targeting broad sectors of Russia's economy this week over its alleged support for separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine.
(Interfax, Reuters)
Airport news stand... No comment. pic.twitter.com/lC8LxwiYRN
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) July 31, 2014