Ukraine, eight other nations align with EU sanctions over Russian aggression

Ukraine and eight other nations from among candidate countries and members of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) aligned with the decision of the EU Council of March 12, 2024, which expanded the list of persons and entities subject to EU sanctions for violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, extending them for another six months, until September 2024.

That’s according to a statement by the EU High Representative, released today on the EU Council website, Ukrinform reports.

"On 12 March 2024, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2024/847 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. The Council decided to renew the regime for a further six months until 15 September 2024, updated the entries for 97 individuals and nine entities. Additionally, the entries for nine deceased persons, as well as those for three other persons are deleted from the list of persons, entities and bodies set out in the Annex to Decision 2014/145/CFSP. The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this Council Decision," the statement reads.

As noted, the said countries will ensure compliance of national policies with the decision of the EU Council. The European Union took note of and welcomed these commitments.

At the same time, the European Council reminds that 9 deceased persons and three additional persons were excluded from the sanctions list for violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, with the said decision, the EU Council revoked sanctions against two Russian businessmen and a Slovakian national: Arkady Volozh, Serhiy Mndoyantz, and Jozef Gambalek. According to EU sources, the restrictions previously imposed on these persons were lifted because they were allegedly "unfounded from a legal perspective."

Volozh is a co-founder of the Russian search engine Yandex.