Time for EU further expand Russia sanctions, von der Leyen says

Tough economic restrictions imposed by the European Union on Russia are the response to the Kremlin’s aggression toward Ukraine, and now it’s time to continue and increase sanction pressure, not appease the aggressor.

That’s according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, delivering her State of the Union address, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“It is the Kremlin that has put Russia's economy on the path to oblivion. This is the price for Putin's trail of death and destruction. And I want to make it very clear, the sanctions are here to stay. This is the time for us to show resolve, not appeasement,” von der Leyen told MEPs.

The EC President recalled that the EU had responded to Russian aggression with the toughest sanctions the world has ever seen. “Russia's financial sector is on life-support. We have cut off three quarters of Russia's banking sector from international markets. Nearly one thousand international companies have left the country. The production of cars fell by three-quarters compared to last year. Aeroflot is grounding planes because there are no more spare parts. The Russian military is taking chips from dishwashers and refrigerators to fix their military hardware, because they ran out of semiconductors. Russia's industry is in tatters,” she said.

“One lesson from this war is we should have listened to those who know Putin. To Anna Politkovskaya and all the Russian journalists who exposed the crimes, and paid the ultimate price. To our friends in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and to the opposition in Belarus. We should have listened to the voices inside our Union – in Poland, in the Baltics, and all across Central and Eastern Europe. They have been telling us for years that Putin would not stop. And they acted accordingly,” noted von der Leyen.

As reported earlier, on September 14, in Strasbourg, the President of the European Commission delivered at the European Parliament an annual State of the Union address.

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska attended the plenary session as an honorary guest.

Ursula von der Leyen, along with a large part of European commissioners and MEPs sported outfits matching Ukrainian flag colors in a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

Photo: EPA