Ukraine Crisis: EU Commission Head Outlines Russia Sanctions

EU leaders backed a broad sanctions package Thursday that will limit Russia’s access to Europe’s financial sector and restricting key technologies.

The sanctions will impose “massive and severe consequences on Russia” for its invasion of Ukraine, European leaders said in a joint conclusion from an emergency summit in Brussels. The leaders approved the outlines of the sanctions, with the final details to be finalized and formally adopted in a meeting scheduled for Friday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a news conference early Friday that the sanctions will be targeting 70% of Russia’s banking sector.

The sanctions also broaden sanctions on individuals, as well as criteria to target wealthy Russian oligarchs, and tighten visa rules for diplomats, making asset freezes and travel bans more effective, said people familiar with the matter.

The financial sanctions included in the package, which have been closely coordinated with the U.S. and the U.K., are aimed at restricting Russia’s access to international markets. The U.S. and U.K. announced their packages of sanctions on Thursday, with many provisions mirroring ones the EU adopted earlier this week or green-lit on Thursday.

Two additional Russian banks -- Alfa Bank and Bank Otkritie -- would be added to the list of financial institutions prohibited from borrowing or buying securities. It would prohibit the listing of new shares of Russian state-owned enterprises on EU exchanges and blacklist several state-owned companies in the shipbuilding and shipping industries. The people familiar with the proposal described it on the condition of anonymity since it is still under discussion.

The EU would also move to stop financial inflows from Russia into the EU by imposing limits on bank deposits and bar Russians from investing in EU securities.

“These sanctions will increase Russia’s borrowing costs, raise inflation and gradually erode Russia’s industrial base,” von der Leyen said. “It will have maximum impact on the Russian economy and the political elite.”

In one of the strongest elements of the package, the EU has worked in lockstep with the U.S. to introduce export controls on dual-use and high-tech goods, with a particular focus on electronics, computers, telecom and information security, sensors and lasers and marine applications.

“Our measures will weaken Russia’s technological position in key areas, actually from which the elite makes most of their money,” von der Leyen said earlier Thursday. “And this ranges from high-tech components to cutting-edge software. This will also seriously degrade the Russian economy in all areas in the future.”

The proposal also includes an export ban on aircraft, aircraft parts and related equipment, as well as a ban on the sale of equipment and technology needed to update Russian oil refineries to modern environmental standards.

The leaders also discussed even stronger measures, such as banning Russian financial institutions from interbank operations in euros, such as clearing, and cutting Russia off Swift, the international payments system, according to people familiar with matter. But those steps are less likely for now, with some western European governments strongly opposing a Swift cut-off. The bloc is also unlikely to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin directly. One person said some leaders were planning to push for a more ambitious package, but other states prefer an incremental approach.

Ursula von der Leyen also discussed a new strategy for the EU to be less dependent on Russian fossil fuels amid the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

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[irynad]

You will see very soon Russian missiles in EU sky while announcing sanctions that will take years to work

[LetYahArisee]

Psalm 37 - The meek shall inherit the earth

Do not let your anger flare up because of evil doers, neither be zealous against the workers of iniquity,

2 For they shall soon be cut down like grass and wither, and like a green plant, they will fade away.

3 Trusting You, Great Yahweh, and doing righteousness, we shall dwell in Your land, and be fed on Your faithfulness.

4 Delight in Great Yahweh; trust only in Him, and He will bring to pass the desires of our hearts!

5 Commit your ways to Yahweh, trust in Him, and He will act!

6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday!

7 Rest in Yahweh and wait patiently for Him, do not be angered with him who succeeds in his ways; who carries out his wicked plans.

8 Cease from anger! Do no evil! Forsake wrath, for it only leads to evil!

9 For evil doers shall be cut off! But those who wait on Yahweh shall inherit the earth!

10 For yet a little while, then the wicked shall not be; you shall seek, but you will not find him

11 The meek in spirit shall inherit the earth. They shall delight themselves in great peace.

12 The wicked plots against the righteous man, and gnashes on him with his teeth.

13 Yahweh laughs in scorn at the wicked of the earth, for He sees that their day is coming!

14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows, to fell the poor and needy, and to slay those who are upright in conduct and conversation.

15 Their own sword shall enter in their own hearts, and their bows shall break!

16 The little that a righteous man does now have, is better than the great riches of the wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Yahweh upholds the righteous.

18 Yahweh knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever.

19 They shall not be withered in the time of trouble; in the time of famine they shall be satisfied.

20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Yahweh shall be consumed like the fat of lambs; into smoke they shall vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous shows mercy and gives with an open hand.

22 For they who are blessed of Yahweh shall inherit the earth, but they who are cursed shall be destroyed by Him.

23 A righteous man’s steps are ordered by Yahweh; a righteous man delights in His way

24 Though he may stumble, he will not be utterly cast down by Yahweh, for righteous Yahweh holds him up with His hands.

25 I have been young, and now I am old; but I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging bread.

26 The righteous is ever merciful, and lends; so his descendants are blessed.

27 Depart from evil! Do righteousness, and live forever!

28 For Yahweh loves the just, and does not forsake His saints. They are protected forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever!The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.

31 The Law of Yahweh is in his aheart, and his feet shall never slip!

32 When the evil man spies on the righteous, and seeks to destroy him;

33 Yahweh will not put him; the just, into his hands, nor allow him to be condemned as guilty when he is tried.

34 Wait on Yahweh! Keep Yahweh’s way and you shall be exalted to inherit the earth! You shall witness the wicked ones being cut off!

35 We have seen the wicked ones thriving in power, and flourishing like a native green tree;

36 But they passed away, and behold, they were no more. We looked for them, but they could not be found.

37 Mark the perfect man and observe the upright. The future of that man is perfect peace!

38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together. The future of the wicked will be cut off!

39 The salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh! He is our strength in the time of trouble!

40 Yahweh shall help us and save us! Yahweh shall deliver us from the wicked! Yahweh shall save us, for we trust in Him!

[LetYahArisee]

Luke 12: 4-7

Yahshua Teaches the Reverence of Yahweh

4 And I say to you, My friends: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body; for after that, there is nothing further they can do.

5 But I will warn you in advance Whom you should fear: Fear Him Who, after He has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna! Yes, I say to you: Reverence Him!

6 Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins, and not one of them is forgotten before Yahweh?

7 But even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Therefore, do not fear! You are of more value than many sparrows.

[LetYahArisee]

Mattithyah 24: 3-14

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying; Tell us, when will these things be? What will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?

4 Yahshua answered, and said to them: Be on guard, so that no man deceives you;

5 For many will come against My Name, saying: I am anointed to preach salvation!—and will deceive many.

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass. But the end is not yet.

7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and pestilences; disease epidemics, and earthquakes in place after place:

8 All these are the first half of the sorrows; tribulation!

9 Then they will hand you over to be afflicted, and will kill you; and you will be hated above all peoples for My Name’s sake.

10 And then will the many be offended; fall away, and will betray one another, and will hate one another;

11 And many false prophets will rise, and will deceive the many.

12 And because iniquity; the breaking of Yahweh’s Law, will abound, the love of the many will grow cold.

13 But he who endures until the end, the same will be saved.

14 And this message of the Kingdom will be preached to all the world by the one who bears witness to all nations; and then the end will come

Luke 21: 25-28

25 And there will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth, distress among nations in their perplexity at the roaring and surging of the sea:

26 Men’s courage failing them because of fear, and because of the dread of those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven will be shaken.

27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

28 So when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draws near.

Acts 2: 14-21

But Kepha, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said to them; Men of Yahdah, and all who live in Yerusalem! Let this be known to you, so give me your attention!

15 For these are not drunk, as you assume, seeing it is only the third hour of the day; about 9:00 in the morning.

16 But this is the beginning of that which was spoken by the prophet Yahyl:

17 And it will come to pass in the lastdays, says Yahweh: I will pour out My Spirit upon flesh; and your sons and your daughters will cprophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

18 Yes, on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they will prophesy.

19 And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath - blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.

21 And it will come to pass that whoever calls on the Name of Yahweh will be delivered.

Mattithyah 24: 21-27

21 For then will be great tribulation, such as has not come to pass since the beginning of the world to this time—no, nor ever will be.

22 And unless those days were shortened, there would no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened.

23 Then if any man says to you; Behold, here is the Messiah! or; He is there! Do not believe it.

24 For there will arise false messiahs and false prophets who will show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect.

25 Behold, I have warned you beforehand!

26 So when they say to you; Behold, He is in the desert!—do not go out. Behold, He is in the Holy Place!—do not believe it.

27 For as the lightning comes out of the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

[mravr]

Green hydrogen is the right answer. Well done.

[LetYahArisee]

Hoseheyah 4: 1-9

Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israyl! For Yahweh has a controversy; a legal dispute, with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of Yahweh in the land.

2 By pronouncing curses, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery, they break out; with bloodshed following bloodshed.

3 Therefore, the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will languish, with the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air; yes, even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

4 Now let no man contend; argue with, nor rebuke another, for My contention is with the priests!

5 Therefore, you will fall in the day, and the prophet will also fall with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you will be no priest to Me. Because you have forgotten the Law of Yahweh, I will also forget your children.

7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; therefore, I will change their Glory; Kabod, into Shame; Bosheth.

8 They feed on the sin offering of My people, while they set their hearts on their iniquity!

9 And it will be: Like people, like priests. So I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their doings.