Forbes/ The European Union is planning to freeze the assets of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov under a new round of sanctions against Moscow, according to multiple reports Friday.
The EU’s foreign ministers are preparing to green light the sanctions package later in the day, Financial Times first reported, citing three people familiar with the matter.
The sources said the sanctions package would not include a travel ban on Putin and Lavrov.
The sanctions package would not affect the bloc’s Russian energy imports or kick Russia out of the international payment system SWIFT, Reuters reported.
The sanctions would target Russian elites and make it more difficult for diplomats to travel, Reuters reported.
The exact scope of Putin’s wealth is unknown. Bloomberg reported that his official annual income is around 10 million rubles ($120,850), and his properties include three cars and an apartment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Europe earlier on Friday to promptly impose sanctions on Russia for launching a full-scale attack on Ukraine, saying the bloc should consider all measures, including kicking Russia out of SWIFT. The bloc agreed in principle overnight Friday to impose “massive and targeted” sanctions on Russian banks and energy industry. Western countries ranging from Australia to Canada to Japan have joined the U.S., the EU and the United Kingdom in imposing economic sanctions on Russia after Putin officially recognized the pro-Russia states of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent earlier this week. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced new economic punishments on Moscow, including sanctions on four large Russian banks and Russian elites and their family members. Biden’s sanctions did not target Putin nor cut Moscow off from SWIFT.