EU and GB impose new round of sanctions on Russia

BRUSSELS (AP) — Thoroughbred horses, truffles, the owner of a football team and the director of a media company.

The European Union imposed a new round of sanctions on Russia on Tuesday aimed at denying oligarchs access to luxury and preventing Russia from redeeming its lucrative steel exports. The United Kingdom also joined the penalties.

The 27-nation bloc tried to stay away from sanctions that would affect its Russian energy supply, and instead focused on billion-dollar measures while stifling Russia's ability to work in global markets by banning EU rating agencies from working with Russian customers.

“These new sanctions will further isolate Russia and exhaust its resources to finance this barbaric war. So it can be said that Russia has become the most sanctioned nation in the world, which is a somewhat questionable honor,” said the vice-president of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis.

The bloc's continued punishment of Moscow for invading its neighbor Ukraine was carried out after consulting its Western allies, from the United Kingdom to the United States.

They jointly agreed to deny Russia favored nation status, which will cost their companies privileged status in Western economies. Britain announced sanctions on Tuesday against 350 individuals and companies, and also promised to ban exports of luxury goods to Russia.

In addition, Britain will impose additional tariffs of 35% on imports of Russian and Belarusian products, from vodka and fish to iron, oilseeds and cereals.

The measures “will further isolate the Russian economy from global trade, ensuring that it does not benefit from the rules-based international system it does not respect,” said Britain's finance chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Russia, for its part, also imposed sanctions, placing US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior federal officials on its list. The White House played down the importance of this measure.

“None of us plan leisure trips to Russia and none of us have bank accounts that we can't access. So we'll move on,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

___

Associated Press journalists Danica Kirka, in London, and Chris Megerian, in Washington, contributed to this office.