The European Union (EU) will toughen sanctions against Russia, target its ally, Belarus, and finance the procurement of weapons for Ukraine to help counter the Russian invasion.
"For the first time, the European Union will fund the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country under attack," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Sunday 27 February 2022.
The EU will close their airspace to Russian aircraft, including private jets of Russian oligarchs, he said. The European economic and political bloc will also ban the Russian state TV network Russia Today and the Sputnik news agency.
Read: Mriya, the World's Largest Aircraft belonging to Ukraine that Russia Destroyed During the Invasion
According to Von der Leyen, the ban aims to prevent Russia "spreading lies that justify Putin's war and sow division in our (European) Union."
Russia has called its actions in Ukraine a "special operation", which it says is not designed to occupy territory, but to destroy its neighbor's military capabilities and to arrest those it deems dangerous nationalists.
Against Belarus, the EU will impose a ban on imported products, ranging from mineral fuels to tobacco, wood and blocks, cement, iron and steel.
This move adds to a series of previously announced sanctions against Russia, such as in the energy sector and the exclusion of a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system that dominates global markets. In addition, the EU will also fund the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to Ukraine.
"Another taboo is being broken. The taboo that the EU does not provide weapons in war," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement before a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
The bloc plans to budget 450 million euros for Ukrainian armaments, a source at the European Commission told Reuters, and an additional 50 million euros for logistics such as medical supplies.
