EU 11th sanctions package targets circumvention, banning dual-use tech to some countries
The European Union has approved its 11th package of sanctions against Russia, which comes after weeks of wrangling inside the divided bloc and hones in on circumvention and its enablers.
While full details have yet to be released, the package reportedly includes measures to restrict the sale of sensitive technologies or dual-use goods to countries suspected of enabling Moscow and blacklists at least three companies in China.
‘Today, the EU Ambassadors agreed on the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. The package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings,’ Sweden, as EU president, announced in a 21 June tweet.
‘Finally, after weeks of talks we have just agreed…’ tweeted Arnoldas Pranckevičius, Lithuania’s representative at the EU.
EU and US officials have said that, after months of imposing the harshest sanctions regime in history on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year, their focus is now shifting to stopping sanctions busting and closing circumvention routes, especially for dual-use goods the Kremlin desperately needs to keep fighting.
The US and EU have particularly focused on countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Armenia, which share borders with Russia and where steep rises in imports from the EU have been reported.
Earlier his week, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqayev told reporters it is untrue that his country is being used for sanctions evasion that helps get dual-use goods into Russia, following talks on sanctions and other issues in Astana with his visiting German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The formal document about the new EU sanctions has not yet been released, but the media outlet euronews reported that it ‘introduces a novel mechanism to restrict the sale and transfer of sensitive technology and dual-use products to other countries that are considered to be enabling circumvention.’
‘The new sanctions reinforce export bans and target a limited set of non-Russian companies that are suspected of taking part in the evasion,’ euronews said, adding that the list includes three China-based companies.
‘This marks the first time China, one of the few allies that Moscow has left on the international stage, becomes directly entangled in the EU sanctions against Russia,’ according to the news outlet.
