The EU and the US prepare new sanctions for Russia

The European Union is preparing a third round of sanctions for Russia, following allegations that the country was involved in downing the Malaysian passenger flight above eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard.

The events following the plane crash also built-up international outrage at how victims’ remains were being handled and how rebels tampered with evidence at the site and pressure to hold Russia accountable for all of this is increasingly growing.

New sanctions are expected to put the biggest toll yet on Russia’s economy as they will target industries and banks especially.

‘Level three sanctions start to contact industries. So the entire energy and indeed banking sector could get affected. We know certainly from moves that the US have made in New York that the US would see any sanctions being extra-territorial and therefore anybody dealing with Russia is likely to get fined significantly,’ explained Tom Vosa, Head of Market Economics, Europe at the National Australia Bank Group.

However, the biggest companies in Russia, such as oil giant Rosneft, gas producer Novatek and banking giant GazpromBank claimed that, so far, US and EU economical sanctions had not affected their business or revenue.