New EU Sanctions Hit Two Russian Deputy Defense Ministers
The European Union included two Russian deputy defense ministers in its latest Ukraine sanctions list Monday, hitting them with travel bans and asset freezes for their role in the conflict.
The EU's Official Journal named Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov and first Deputy Minister of Defense Arkady Bakhin for supporting Russian troop deployments in Ukraine.
Among three other Russians named were Joseph Kobzon and Valery Rashkin, members of the Duma (parliament).
The EU listed 14 Ukrainians, all military or political figures in the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, alongside nine entities.
EU foreign ministers agreed the sanctions late last month after deadly attacks on the key port city of Mariupol killed more than 30 civilians but suspended their application as France and German led last ditch efforts to secure a Ukraine ceasefire.
EU leaders then decided at a summit Thursday to go ahead with the sanctions because, irregardless of the new peace effort, they were meant to punish those implicated in the Mariupol attacks.
Publication of the names in the Official Journal puts the sanctions into effect.
The latest additions bring the total to 151 individuals and 37 entities.
Brussels first imposed targeted sanctions on individuals after Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014 but adopted tougher economic measures after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in July.
Moscow said on Monday it would respond to the sanctions, condemning them as "inconsistent and illogical".
"Such decisions... will be followed by an appropriate response," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We note how inconsistent and illogical it is that every time that a hope appears of a solution to the crisis inside Ukraine, the European Union rushes to bring in new anti-Russian restrictions."
The foreign ministry complained that the sanctions "go against common sense" and "look particularly ridiculous" after the European-mediated ceasefire agreement reached last week.
It said the decision to impose the travel bans and asset freezes, which were agreed last month after deadly attacks by rebels on the port city of Mariupol, was "not beneficial" to efforts to resolve the conflict.
Moscow accused Brussels of not bothering to understand the situation in east Ukraine and "doing the bidding of the party of war in Kiev."
Source: Agence France Presse
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