Europe has said it will present "massive and targeted sanctions" against Russia after a barrage of air and missile strikes on Ukraine, pictured. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
The measures are intended to weaken Moscow's economic base "and its capacity to modernize," Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement.
"With this package, we will target strategic sectors of the Russian economy by blocking their access to technologies and markets that are key for Russia," von der Leyen said. "And, in addition, we will freeze Russian assets in the European Union and stop the access of Russian banks to European financial markets."
The EU laid out its proposed second package of measures after the bloc put sanctions in place on Wednesday against top Russian officials and companies, a response to Russia sending troops into two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
The first measures included sanctions against 351 members of the Russian parliament and 27 other individuals and entities accused of destabilizing Ukraine.
Sanctions were escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a public address early Thursday that Russia's lathes moves were intended to "demilitarize" Ukraine to protect separatist regions in the Donbas region in the eastern part of the country.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday issued an order to impose martial law throughout the country after his office published confirmation of Russian attacks against Ukraine defense targets.
"There are strikes on military and other important defense facilities, border units are under attack, the situation in the Donbas has degraded," according to the statement issued by Zelenskyy's office.
Von der Leyen said the second round of sanctions announced on Thursday will be aligned with similar moves being taken by the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, as well as Japan and Australia.
"We condemn this barbaric attack, and the cynical arguments to justify it," von der Leyen said. "These sanctions are designed to take a heavy toll on the Kremlin's interests and their ability to finance war."
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday slapped sanctions on the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would ship Russian gas to Western Europe. The day before that he unveiled an array of sanctions targeting Russian financial institutions in an attempt to cut the country off from Western financing.
Germany has already blocked certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which has been built and is awaiting final approval to go into service. The pipeline, backed by Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom, would connect Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea to ease pressure on European consumers facing record energy prices.
The U.K. government on Tuesday froze the assets of five Russian banks and three oligarchs close to Putin in a first wave of sanctions after Russian forces entered breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine.
–Additional reporting by Keith Goldberg. Editing by Ed Harris.
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