Politico: EU Preparing Another Blow For Russian Federation

This refers to the next package of sanctions.

Russian aluminum products are among the goods that could be embargoed in the next round of EU sanctions against Russia. This was reported by Politico (translated by Unian) with reference to EU diplomats.

“The aluminum smelting process requires enormous amounts of electricity, and energy prices account for up to 40% of production costs. Thus, sanctions against Russian aluminum are another way of sanctions against Russian energy,” the report says.

Previous rounds of sanctions left about 85% of Russia's metal exports to the EU untouched, according to trade body European Aluminium, which represents EU producers and advocates for tighter import restrictions on Russian suppliers.

It is noted that the countries hope to agree on a package of sanctions by the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine next month.

“We think it would be a good idea to receive the package on the eve of the second anniversary of the war,” the publication quotes one EU diplomat.