According to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland is to support the new measures including sanctioning several Asian countries for delivering some previously banned products to Russia.
Morawiecki said it was crucial for sanctions to be strict and tight, in order to be efficient.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said on Monday that the new 11th round of punitive measures against Moscow would be ready “no sooner than in May.”
The Polish foreign minister said that various countries were proposing new sanctions on Russia, with Warsaw advocating for “a ban on Russian diamonds,” among other proposals.
Rau stated, as quoted by the PAP news agency: “I would also expect sanctions on the individuals who are responsible for the abductions of Ukrainian children to Russia, but also on officials in the Russian justice system, who are culpable for the persecution in courts of Russia’s opposition activists.”
Due to continued resistance from France, Hungary and Bulgaria, this 11th package will not include sanctions on Russia’s nuclear sector, while differences of opinion among member states mean that a ban on Russian diamonds will not be part of the new measures, either.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, which Russian President Vladimir Putin termed a "special military operation", the EU has adopted 10 sanctions packages against Russian individuals and companies, inflicting economic and making financing the war more difficult, the reuters news agency has reported.
The agency also quoted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, has saying that the 11th package would focus on combating circumvention of existing restrictions, in particular for spare parts and equipment that Russia deploys on the battlefield against Ukraine.
Warsaw's proposal suggests the discontinuation of Russian oil imports via the northern leg of the Druzhba pipelineto Germany, while also seeking to terminate the imports of Russian natural gas, including LNG, as well as diamonds, and reduce cooperation in the area of nuclear energy.
Meanwhile Germany and Lithuania support nuclear energy sanctions, but they have proposed exceptions for countries such as Hungary and France, who continue to trade with Russia.
Hungary, which recently announced a revised contract with Russia's Rosatom to expand the Paks nuclear plant, has been firm in its opposition to any sanctions on Russian nuclear energy.
Belgium, which is home to the largest diamond trading hub in the world, Antwerp, has so far effectively campaigned against restricting Russian imports.
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Source: reuters, IAR, PAP
