Bloomberg: EU wants to extend sanctions to Russian drones

The European Union is looking to impose restrictions on Russia’s drone sector as part of a new package of sanctions the bloc aims to approve for next week, according to people familiar with the matter, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

The EU is also considering restrictions on other technologies and components used by Moscow for military purposes, as well as measures further targeting services, investments and Russia’s media and financial sectors, the people said.

The new package, which would be the EU’s ninth since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, would also add about 180 individuals and entities to the bloc’s sanctions list, one of the people said.

Poland and the Baltic countries pushed the EU to strengthen the suite of measures as part of their demands to back a price cap on Russian oil. The cap and an EU ban on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil into the bloc came into force on December 5.

The new sanctions package is expected to be formally proposed and discussed this week and the goal is to approve the measures before EU leaders meet in Brussels next week, the people said. EU sanctions require the support of all member states to be adopted and the measures could change before that happens.