Borrell: EU needs to strengthen fight against sanctions circumvention by Russia
The High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has stated the need to strengthen the fight against the circumvention of sanctions already imposed by the EU on Russia.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine.
"We are seeing progress in the fight against sanctions circumvention, but much more is needed. We see too often how electronic elements of Western brands continue to be used in Russian weapons. When you do a post-mortem on a Russian weapon, you find Western-branded electronic components. So we need to continue to fight sanctions circumvention, and it starts at home. It starts at home, not just in the country where the circumvention takes place through re-export.
We need to strengthen due diligence on the part of companies exporting critical components to third countries. We need more sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet. Russia's hydrocarbon export capabilities are also prolonging the war, and the number of vessels in this shadow fleet that allow Russia to continue to export oil without being subject to restrictions is increasing. Therefore, we are asking for proposals to strengthen sanctions against these vessels," Borrell said.
Borrell also stated that Ukrainian grain exports "are once again under military threat from Russia." "And we cannot allow Putin to jeopardize global food security or succeed in his attempts to turn winter into a weapon. I've said several times that he plans to plunge Ukraine into darkness and cold, and to do so, he is attacking the energy infrastructure. Last year he failed in this area, and he must fail again," the EU High Representative added.
