The European Union has denounced the "illegal" annexation votes Russia held in occupied Ukrainian regions and proposed a new raft of sanctions. The European Union has proposed a raft of new sanctions against Russia in response to the so-called referendums in four Ukrainian regions.

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement, saying the package was designed "to make the Kremlin pay" for escalating the conflict in Ukraine with what she called "sham" votes in occupied territory.

The sanctions package includes further import bans on Russian products, expected to deprive Moscow of an additional €7 billion ($6.7 billion) in revenues.

It also features export bans on key technology used for the military such as aviation items, electronic components and specific chemical substances.

The sanctions package will map out the legal basis for an oil price cap and will ban EU citizens from sitting on governing bodies of Russian state-owned companies, von der Leyen said.

"We do not accept the sham referenda and any kind of annexation in Ukraine, and we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation," she told reporters in Brussels.

Speaking alongside von der Leyen, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said individuals involved in organizing of the self-styled referendums and top officials from the Russian Defense Ministry would be subject to EU entry bans and asset freezes. He said the list of blacklisted individuals would also include anyone helping Moscow to circumvent sanctions.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the EU has implemented six rounds of sanctions targeting Russian individuals, entities, good exports and technology and banking as well as an embargo on most Russian oil and coal exports.

European Union countries should impose “biting sanctions” on Russian trade and hit officials responsible for “sham referendums” held in parts of Ukraine as Moscow ramps up the war, senior EU officials said Wednesday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Kremlin-orchestrated referendums on joining Russia “are an illegal attempt to grab land and change international borders by force.”

“We are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation,” she said, as she unveiled what she described as “sweeping new import bans on Russian products.”

“This will keep Russian products out of the European market and deprive Russia of an additional 7 billion euros in revenue,” von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.

She said the EU’s executive branch also advises extending the bloc’s own export ban “to deprive the Kremlin’s military complex of key technologies,” including electronic components and specific chemical substances.

The proposals still must be endorsed by the bloc’s 27 countries.

Von der Leyen also said the EU should “lay the legal basis” for a price cap on Russian oil, without elaborating. The bloc already agreed to ban sea-borne crude starting Dec. 5, but some member countries still require Russian supplies at low prices.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial powers pledged this month to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil in a bid to limit the Kremlin’s revenues, while also curtailing the war’s impact on energy prices and inflation.

The ministers said they would impose the cap by barring insurance or shipping companies from helping Russia sell oil at prices above the set limit.

On top of that, von der Leyen recommended a ban on EU nationals sitting on the governing bodies of Russian companies, saying that “Russia should not benefit from European knowledge and expertise.”

People who help Russia to circumvent sanctions could also face sanctions themselves, under the proposal outlined Wednesday.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said asset freezes and bans on travel in Europe would be imposed on the “proxy Russian authorities” in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Officials there said Wednesday that they would ask President Vladimir Putin to incorporate their provinces into Russia.

Borrell said he also wants to target senior Russian defense ministry officials and those who support the armed forces by providing it with equipment and weapons, or who help to recruit the 300,000 reservists that Putin has called up.

“Sanctions work. Sanctions matter. But they have to be maintained over time and … not circumvented,” he said.

The European Commission has drawn up several rafts of sanctions against Russia since Putin launched an invasion of neighboring Ukraine seven months ago.

Banks, companies and markets have been hit — even parts of the sensitive energy sector – with asset freezes and travel bans slapped on over 1,200 officials.

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