European Council: Sanctions against Russia will affect Europe

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The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said the sanctions imposed on Russia will affect Europe as well, stressing the need to prepare for this situation. 

Michel said in a speech to the European Parliament that the repercussions of sanctions will greatly affect Russia, stressing the mobilization of efforts to prevent the use of the Russian Central Bank reserves. 

He stressed that the European Union will continue to support Ukraine against Russia, noting that the Union will seriously consider Ukraine's request to join it.

The President of the European Council pointed out that Western countries intend to organize an international conference to collect donations, in order to provide support to Ukraine.

This comes at a time when the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on the largest Russian bank "Sberbank", against the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

European countries have imposed a wide range of sanctions on Russian companies and banks while isolating Russia from the SWIFT financial system is being discussed.

Russian Presidency Press Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed that Russia has the necessary capabilities to compensate for the damage caused by the sanctions.

For her part, the White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki said the United States may discuss with Russia the issue of easing sanctions if it takes steps to reduce the escalation in Ukraine.

The Russian forces are continuing their special operation, for the sixth day, to protect the Donbass region, amid an unprecedented escalation of Western sanctions against Moscow.