FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, December 10, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
December 15, 2021
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is ready to scale up its sanctions and take “unprecedented measures” against Russia if it shows further aggression towards Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
Von der Leyen, speaking in the European Parliament, said the EU had worked closely with the United States to draw up options going beyond existing sanctions targeting Russia’s financial and energy sectors, dual-use goods and defence.
“Our response to any further aggression may take the formof a robust scaling-up and expansion of these existing sanctions regimes,” she told EU lawmakers.
“And of course we are ready to take additional, unprecedented measures with serious consequences for Russia.”
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Benoit von Overstraeten)
Source: One America News Network
