EU agrees first sanctions on Chinese and Indian companies for Russia war links

Curbs on almost 200 entities aim to ‘degrade’ Moscow’s capability to attack Ukraine

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The EU has agreed a new package of sanctions against Russia that for the first time targets Chinese and Indian companies accused of supporting Moscow’s war effort. The measures, which will be the 13th package of sanctions imposed by Brussels in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, target close to 200 individuals and entities but stop short of any sweeping economic measures targeting crucial industrial sectors. “We must keep degrading [Vladimir] Putin’s war machine . . . [and] keep the pressure high on the Kremlin,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in response to the sanctions agreement on Wednesday, adding that the measures also aimed to target “Russia’s access to drones”. EU officials are also discussing a further package of sanctions in response to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison last week. The UK imposed sanctions on six managers of the prison colony where Navalny died. The inclusion of Chinese and Indian companies comes as the EU and its G7 partners attempt to crack down on Russia’s use of third countries and transit routes to evade existing sanctions designed to hamper its war economy.

Brussels had abandoned plans to sanction mainland Chinese companies under pressure from member states including Germany that were fearful of antagonising Beijing. But Russia’s continued ability to produce large numbers of drones, missiles, tanks and other weapons despite extensive western trade bans has put pressure on G7 capitals to step up their anti-evasion efforts. The sanctions will target three companies in mainland China and one in India, alongside businesses in Sri Lanka, Turkey, Thailand, Serbia and Kazakhstan, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.

The targeted businesses will be hit by trade restrictions after being identified as helping to supply equipment, particularly electronics and microchips, used by Russia to manufacture weapons or other equipment used in its war against Ukraine. “It is also appropriate to include on that list certain other entities in third countries that indirectly support Russia’s military and industrial complex . . . by trading in such components, the sanctions proposal said. The agreement by EU ambassadors on Wednesday will allow the measures to be formally approved ahead of the second anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion on February 24.

The names of the individuals and entities will be published when the sanctions package appears in the EU’s legal journal. The new package will raise the total number of individuals and entities sanctioned by the EU in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to about 2,000. The agreement was reached after Hungary last week dropped its opposition to the package.