French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that as part of a new package of sanctions against Russia, Paris will propose to the European Commission to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats.
„We have urged the European Commission to prepare one of the most powerful packages of sanctions since the beginning of the war. I am glad that it has kept our proposals unchanged, a number of which are aimed at the largest oil players in the Russian Federation. A number of measures are also aimed at third countries that allow the circumvention of sanctions against Russia. This package has not yet been adopted, we will continue to strengthen it by making it more difficult for Russian diplomats to move around the EU. "Maybe in a slightly different way than we did before," he said on RTL radio.
According to him, the aim of the new sanctions is to force Russia to respect the 30-day ceasefire proposed by the West.
Barro also noted that the EU must achieve "complete independence from Russian hydrocarbons." According to him, "we must achieve this for gas next year, and for oil - this year“.
Earlier, Barrot said that he hoped for the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions against Russia by the end of June.
Russia earlier said that the West had made a serious mistake by refusing to buy hydrocarbons from Russia, would fall into a new, stronger dependence due to higher prices, and those who refused would still buy more expensively through intermediaries and buy Russian oil and gas.