New Delhi: The European Union on Wednesday has slapped sanctions on 351 members of the Russian Parliament who voted in favour of recognising the independence of separatist areas Donetsk and Luhansk in south-east Ukraine, as reported by news agency ANI.
“The EU will extend restrictive measures to cover all the 351 members of the Russian State Duma, who voted on 15 February in favor of the appeal to President Putin to recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk ‘republics’,” EU headquarters said.
A further “27 high profile individuals and entities, who have played a role in undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” including government officials, banks, businesspeople and top military officers, are also in the EU's sights.
EU has also decided to introduce a sectoral prohibition to finance the Russian Federation, its government and Central Bank.
“By restraining the ability of the Russian state and government to access the EU’s capital and financial markets and services, the EU aims to limit the financing of escalatory and aggressive policies,” the statement said.
According to the New York Times, the US and the European Union are going to crack down on those who are very close to Putin. These include Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and Putin's Chief of Staff Anton Vaino.
After declaring Donetsk and Luhansk of Ukraine as separate regions, Russia has started evacuating its embassy in Kyiv. The European Union is going to have a crucial meeting on Thursday to decide the strategy against Russia. Notably, this meeting will be held in Belarus, which is already with Russia and the Russian army is present on Belarusian turf.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has asked reserve soldiers aged between 18 and 60 to be ready due to the possibility of open war.