Xinhua, Brussels :
The European Union (EU) Friday expressed intention to formally adopt a new package of restrictive measures against Russia on Monday.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy made the announcement in a public joint letter addressed to members of the European Council.
The set of enhanced measures against Russia designed “in view of Russia’s actions destabilising eastern Ukraine” has been agreed at the level of the Coreper, or the Permanent Representatives Committee, which is responsible for preparing the work of the Council of the EU, according to the letter.
The new package includes measures related to access to capital markets, defense, dual use goods, and sensitive technologies and a new list of individuals, including “the new leadership in Donbass, the government of Crimea as well as Russian decision-makers and oligarchs,” the letter said.
The letter said that the new package of restrictive measures “will give the European Union an effective tool, which should allow us to provide a response within a short time span.”
“It will increase the effectiveness of the measures already in place. It will also reinforce the principle that EU sanctions are directed at promoting a change of course in Russia’s actions in Ukraine,” it said. “Our intention is that the formal adoption of this package will be done through written procedure on Monday.”
In July, the EU agreed for the first time on broad sanctions against the Russian economy-a package of restrictive measures targeting Russia’s finance, defense and energy sector and blacklisted dozens of individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The EU said the sanctions may be scaled up or down according to the development of the situation.
The EU still decided to scale up the level of its July sanctions against Russia, though Ukraine’s government and insurgents signed a cease-fire protocol on Friday, bringing forth a glimmer of hope that an end of the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine is within reach.
The truce deal was inked in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, where envoys from the two warring sides as well as Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were holding talks for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
In Moscow, the Kremlin welcomed the signing of the truce protocol. Interfax news agency quoted presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that “Moscow hopes all the provisions of the document and the agreements reached will be thoroughly observed.”
Noting that the deal followed initiatives by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Poroshenko, he voiced the hope that “the negotiating process will continue until the Ukraine crisis is completely solved.”
