The countries of the European Union (EU) failed to agree on the 10th package of sanctions against Russia due to disagreements over rubber and the transfer of data on Russian assets. This was reported on February 22 by the agency Reuters with reference to sources.
“There are several outstanding issues, including on rubber and reporting obligations,” the agency quoted a source as saying.
According to him, on the afternoon of Thursday, February 23, additional negotiations on the 10th package of sanctions should take place. The Reuters interlocutor also expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached quickly.
Earlier in the day, Senator of the Federation Council Sergei Tsekov suggested that the EU cannot agree on the 10th package of sanctions due to the fact that a number of European countries understand that restrictions do them more harm than the Russian Federation. He noted that due to sanctions, trade and economic relations between Russia and the West could be severed.
On February 20, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that the EU countries do have disagreements on the 10th package of anti-Russian sanctions, but they will be overcome by February 24.
On the same day, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, admitted that all the main sanctions against Russia had already been introduced, all new packages of restrictive measures are aimed solely at closing weak spots and preventing attempts to bypass.
Before that, on February 16, the ambassadors of the EU countries also failed to agree on a new package of sanctions against the Russian Federation. One of the controversial points was synthetic rubber, the import of which wants to limit the European Commission.
Western countries have stepped up sanctions pressure on Russia against the backdrop of a special military operation to protect the population of Donbass. The decision to start it was made by President Vladimir Putin against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to Ukrainian shelling.
