EU proposes 19th sanctions package against Russia

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The European Commission proposed the 19th sanctions package against Russia, according to the commission's Economy and Productivity Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis on Friday.

"The Commission's proposal for the 19th sanctions package will aim to weaken Russia's already weakened war economy further," Dombrovskis said during the Eurogroup press conference in Copenhagen.

Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho also announced Friday in a press briefing in Brussels that the commission has adopted the 19th sanctions package against Russia.

Pinho added that President Ursula von der Leyen and EU forerign policy chief Kaja Kallas will announce this afternoon the sanctions package.

Stating that no one implemented stronger sanctions than Europe, Dombrovskis emphasized that the sanctions work, particularly as part of a coordinated G7 approach.

He said that G7 sanctions have already inflicted real costs on the Russian economy ranging in the hundreds of billions.

"But it is clear that we must step up the pressure against Russia further to make its war of aggression unsustainable," Dombrovskis stated.

He added that the details will be disclosed "very soon."

- Ukraine Reparations Loan

Dombrovskis also announced that they will use the immobilized Russian Central Bank assets as limited-recourse loans to Ukraine, which he called the "Reparations Loan."

"This however would not affect Russia's claim on the financial institutions holding those immobilized cash balances, which would remain fully in place. But this loan would be repaid only if and when Ukraine receives reparations from Russia, so basically frontloading the reparations," he said.

"We are now working on technical details addressing certain concerns and questions to build a legally, financially and fiscally sound instrument," Dombrovskis added.