EU will cut off Russia's oxygen: sanctions will no longer be circumvented, – Italian Ambassador

The European Union has recognized the problem of circumventing the sanctions imposed on the Russian economy. That is why the next sanctions package will focus on third parties from whom Russia receives support.

Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Pier Francesco Zazzo said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine. He emphasized that Vladimir Putin's regime still imports microchips and technologies necessary for military production through countries that have not joined the sanctions regime.

"I can assure you that there is a great focus on the issue of circumventing sanctions. There is also a lot of attention to dual-use goods because we know that there are countries that help Russia. And we are currently working on a new package of sanctions against Russia," Zazzo said.

The upcoming package will include additional sanctions against companies and individuals from third countries that help Russia buy weapons or key components for them, the ambassador explained.

"Sanctions have certainly weakened Russia, but not enough. We will continue to put significant pressure on Russian revenues from energy and other raw materials because we know very well that Russia is no longer exporting gas and oil to Europe, but exporting to India, China, etc. and we want to limit Russia's future energy revenues," Pier Francesco Zazzo said.

The EU will continue to impede the development of future energy projects in Russia, and Italy has already reduced the share of Russian gas in total imports to 2% and plans to reduce this figure to zero by 2025. In addition, Europe will continue to make efforts to reduce Russia's revenues from metal sales, the Italian ambassador assured.

"Therefore, we intend to continue to impose new sanctions. Sometimes it is difficult, but I believe that everything is going in the right direction," Zazzo summarized.

OBOZ.UA has already reported that Italy has previously raised the topic of combating all forms of Russia's circumvention of sanctions. In particular, this issue was singled out in a separate article of the bilateral security agreement signed between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.

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