EU sanctions 96 Firms in Russia, bans RT Arabic, Sputnik Arabic

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The European Union's 10th package of sanctions against Russia targets this time 96 organizations and bans the broadcasting of the RT Arabic channel and Sputnik Arabic, the Council of the European Union said on Saturday.

"Today's decision expands the list of entities supporting directly Russia's military and industrial complex in its war of aggression by additional 96 entities, thereby imposing tighter export restrictions on them," the statement read.    

"The Council initiated the process for suspending the broadcasting licenses of two additional media outlets: RT Arabic and Sputnik Arabic," the statement added.

The Council decided to suspend the broadcasting licenses of the media agencies to address Russia's "systematic, international campaign of disinformation and information manipulation intended to destabilize its neighboring countries, the EU and its member states," according to the statement. 

"These outlets are under the permanent direct or indirect control of the leadership of the Russian Federation and have been used by the latter for its continuous and concerted disinformation and war propaganda actions, which legitimise Russia's aggression and undermine support for Ukraine," the document read.    

The EU has approved ten packages of sanctions against Russia so far, including financial and trade restrictions, in addition to individual sanctions. The personal sanctions currently apply to over 1,400 individuals and more than 170 organizations.

The ninth sanctions package was imposed in December last year on Russia, prohibiting citizens to hold governing posts in companies owned by the Russian state, the European Council said on Friday.

"As of today EU nationals will be forbidden from holding any posts on the governing bodies of all Russian State-owned or controlled legal persons, entities or bodies located in Russia," the press release read.

The European Union has a ban in place on certain consulting services to Russia.

The 27-nation bloc explained that its new decision bans the provision of EU advertising, market research and public opinion polling services, product testing, and technical inspection services for Russia and Russian-state-controlled companies.

Days ago, the United States and the Group of Seven (G7) were planning on introducing another "big" sanction package on Russia around the first anniversary of the Ukraine war on February 24, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said Thursday.

Going into details, Nuland explained that the US and its G7 allies were going to broaden banking sanctions on Russia while going on to introduce further export controls in their upcoming announcement.

Top Russian diplomat Alexander Grushko underlined back in December 2022 that sanctions against Russia would only backfire. 

The official went on to say that it is obvious that the United States benefits from all of these sanctions, stressing that Russia will implement policies to secure its economic interests.

It is worth noting that after the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Moscow by the West, western sanctions backfired, having detrimental effects on the world's global markets, most notably gas, and oil. European governments are now suffering the repercussions of their sanctions amid rising strikes and protests over the cost of living and pay.