The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in an interview published in Les Echos and Handelsblatt on Friday 4 February that the sanctions that could be imposed on Russia if it carried out a new aggression against Ukraine were ready.
They will have to be agreed by the Member States, by unanimity.
“We have prepared a robust and comprehensive package, from closing access to foreign capital to export controls on critical goods, advanced technology components that Russia cannot simply replace, for example in the field of artificial intelligence and weaponry, quantum computers, lasers, and space”, explained the Commission President. She said Russia needed to “urgently” modernise its economy, but this could not be done without the technologies in which the EU has undisputed global leadership.
Asked about possible measures concerning the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which divides Europeans, Mrs von der Leyen said it could be affected. “Russia is putting military pressure on Ukraine and using gas supplies as a means of pressure on us. That is why Nord Stream 2 cannot be excluded from the sanctions list, that is very clear”, she explained.
While the EU is preparing for a possible failure of diplomacy, it is doing everything to ensure that diplomacy wins. French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Moscow on Monday 7 February to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and then to Kiev on Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be in Kiev on 14 February and in Moscow on 15 February. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)