Brussels plans to hit Vladimir Putin’s daughters with sanctions as it responds to alleged war crimes with punitive measures including a ban on Russian coal imports.
Katerina Tikhonova and Mariya Vorontsova, whose lives are shrouded in secrecy, are on a draft list of targets including politicians, propagandists, oligarchs and their family members.
The hit list, which is subject to change and will involve asset freezes and travel bans, will be put before ambassadors from the European Union on Wednesday for approval.
The move is largely symbolic as it is unclear if Ms Vorontsova, who co-owns a healthcare investment project, and Ms Tikhonova, who runs an artificial intelligence institute at Moscow State University, have assets outside of Russia.
The EU is also expected to ban coal imports, worth about £3.3 billion, in its first move against the Russian energy sector.
The European Commission said that it was working on more sanctions targeting oil, but there are no plans to hit the more significant gas imports.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission, said: “We all saw the gruesome pictures from Bucha and other areas from which Russian troops have recently left. These atrocities cannot and will not be left unanswered.”
Germany, which is dependent on Russian gas, has ruled out an immediate embargo on gas, which means that EU sanctions would not have the unanimous support necessary to be approved.
The move came after Liz Truss called on European allies to set out a timetable to end Russian oil and gas imports ahead of Wednesday’s meeting of Nato and G7 foreign ministers in Brussels.
The Foreign Secretary said that Western sanctions were pushing the Russian economy back into “the Soviet era”, and demanded even tougher action to stop the war in Ukraine, including more weapons for Kyiv.
She said that the UK had frozen £266.3 billion of Putin’s war chest and made more than 60 per cent of his £461.5 billion of foreign currency reserves unavailable.
On Wednesday, the US is expected to ban all new investments in Russia, in its latest round of sanctions.
The measures, which will be taken in co-ordination with the G7 and EU, “will include a ban on all new investment in Russia, increased sanctions on financial institutions and state owned enterprises in Russia,” a US official said.
Further sanctions on Russian government officials and their family members are also anticipated.
Europe steps up sanctions
EU ambassadors will discuss a full transaction ban on four Russian banks, as well as an embargo on Russian boats accessing EU ports with some exemptions for agricultural and food products, humanitarian aid and energy.
Russian wood, cement and liquor and seafood, such as vodka and caviar, will also be banned. The imports are worth about £4.6 billion a year.
The EU is expected to ban Russian and Belarusian road transport operators and prohibit the sale to Russia of quantum computers, advanced semiconductors, sensitive machinery and transportation equipment worth £8.3 billion annually. It will exclude Russian companies from public procurement tenders in EU countries.
Brussels expelled 19 Russian diplomats from Belgium on Tuesday for “engaging in activities contrary to their diplomatic status”.
Russia’s ambassador to the EU warned of retaliation as Putin warned that Moscow would carefully “monitor” food exports to “hostile” nations.
Romania, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Sweden also expelled suspected spies a day after France and Germany ordered diplomats to leave embassies in Paris and Berlin. About 184 diplomats have been expelled from European embassies since Monday.
Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Ireland complained that it was running out of fuel for heating and hot water after Irish companies refused to deliver supplies because of the war.
The embassy begged the government in Dublin to intervene after its boiler contract and fuel card account was cancelled by separate companies.
