Poland urges EU sanctions on Russian industrial-military compound says FM

The Polish foreign minister has said that Poland wants the EU to impose sanctions on 13 entities of an industrial and military compound in Russia which have been working directly for Russian troops active in Ukraine.

"The imposition of the sanctions would not only have a political dimension, but also an economic one," Zbigniew Rau said following talks of EU foreign and defence ministers held as part of a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, on Monday.

According to Rau, the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said during the meeting that, on the one hand, the EU had been imposing sanctions on Russia but, on the other, they were being neutralised by a radical growth of crude oil prices, among other things.

"So despite the sanctions, Russia has been gaining more than it did previously," Rau said, adding that "this shows that sanctions are a controversial issue, and that it is very difficult to reach unanimity."

Rau also said that a postulate to halt imports of hydrocarbons from Russia was gaining more and more understanding. He added that it was said today that the EU could become independent of Russian gas in two years.