France Says EU Preparing Harshest Sanctions Against Russia in Three Years

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has announced that Europe is preparing to adopt the most severe sanctions against Russia in the past three years, in response to intensified Russian strikes on Ukraine, The Gaze reports.

Speaking to France’s TF1 television channel, Barrot said that “not only did the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, refuse a ceasefire proposal, but Russia has increased its strikes on Ukraine fivefold.”

“This cannot go on. It has to stop. To achieve that, in coordination with efforts by American senators, Europe is preparing to adopt — based on French proposals — the harshest sanctions in the past three years, which will directly deprive Vladimir Putin of the resources that allow him to continue the war,” the French minister stated.

Barrot noted that Russia is no longer making gains on the battlefield, and that “today, Putin is content with shelling residential areas with missiles and drones, causing enormous civilian casualties.”

“So all of this must end. And to achieve that, we need sanctions not only targeting oil revenues but also Russian financial players — and those in other countries — who help circumvent our sanctions,” Barrot added.

As The Gaze previously reported, the EU has announced the official extension of sectoral sanctions against Russia for another six months.

Earlier, Canada and the European Union have pledged to escalate pressure on Russia, including through tougher sanctions and measures to block their circumvention, as part of their ongoing response to Russia's full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine.