European Union flags outside the EU headquarters in Brussels. File photoMOSCOW, April 4EU officials are expected to discuss the imposition of new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported, citing an unnamed diplomat. Among the possible measures proposed earlier by member states of the bloc are additional targeted sanctions, a ban on the use of EU ports by Russian ships, new export restrictions and an embargo on the supply of energy resources: coal, oil or gas. A number of Western countries have introduced new sanctions against the Russian Federation because of Ukraine. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the Western sanctions are very serious, Russia was preparing for them in advance. He added that they require analysis and coordination of departments in order to develop response measures that meet the interests of the Russian Federation. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.» According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, and as of March 25, they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was the liberation of Donbass. At the moment, the strategically important regional center of Volnovakha south of Donetsk has been liberated in the DPR, and battles are underway for Mariupol, the largest city on the coast of the Sea of Azov. In the LPR, according to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense on March 25, 93% of the territory of the former Lugansk region was taken under control. Only the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysichansk, as well as a number of other settlements of this agglomeration, remain under the authority of Kyiv.
