Kaja Kallas, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said in an interview with Die Welt that she will present the new sanctions package in the autumn. If approved, she said, the number of Russian citizens, companies and organizations under EU sanctions would immediately increase by a third. "Pressure must be increased until Russia stops the war," Kallas said.
According to the European Commission, nearly 3,000 individuals and entities are currently on the EU sanctions list. The latest, 21st package, adopted in July, included 48 individuals and 170 entities. The restrictions targeted banks, cryptocurrency networks, oil traders, the energy sector and the shadow fleet. The EU also froze the assets of 94 banks and extended its transaction ban to 33 additional credit institutions.
Kallas expressed hope that the positions of the United States and Europe on sanctions would converge again, citing the Senate's passage of a sanctions bill promoted by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. She also said that existing restrictions had cost Russia more than one trillion euros.
The EU's top diplomat also pointed to what she called Russia's "systematic terror" against Ukrainian civilians. "The Russian army is not winning on the battlefield and is therefore increasingly directing missiles against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure," she said. Citing data from the UN Mission on Human Rights, she said July was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since May 2022.
Kallas added that Europe faces growing hybrid threats, most of which are linked to Moscow. She cited an incident involving a drone at Leipzig airport and violations of Polish and Romanian airspace by Russian missiles and drones. "They are testing our resolve and testing our defenses," she said.