Gold is a key asset for Russia's Central Bank, which has faced restrictions on access to some of its foreign assets under Western sanctions.
EU leaders intend to make gold the subject of sanctions against Russia in connection with its unmotivated war against Ukraine. This is evidenced by the draft final document of the forthcoming EU summit, according to Voice of America.
The text is a compromise between the Scandinavian and Eastern European countries, which insisted on a clear mention in the document of a new, seventh package of sanctions, on the one hand, and countries such as Germany and Belgium, which call for focusing on already developed measures rather than new ones. – on the other.
According to officials familiar with the discussion, one of the possible targets for the new sanctions is Russia's golden assets . Gold is the most important asset for Russia's Central Bank, which has faced restrictions on access to some of its foreign assets under Western sanctions.
At a closed-door meeting last week, the Danish representative suggested that Russian gold be one of the objects of further sanctions.
An informed source told Reuters that the European Commission was working to add gold. to the list of targets of the next round of sanctions, but it is still unclear, however, whether it is an export or import operation, or both at the same time.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has approved 6 packages sanctions against Russia and Belarus, but some sectors of the economy, including gas, are virtually unaffected by these sanctions.
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Work on sanctions will continue, in particular to strengthen implementation and prevent (bypass) them – this is what, according to the latest version of the final communiqué, which was read by Reuters, the EU leaders intend to declare the results and the summit.
The EU summit will take place on June 23-24 in Brussels. It has every chance for Ukraine to become a candidate for EU membership .
