Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said that a fifth set of sanctions — which had been rolled out a day earlier, including a ban on Russian coal supplies after the country invaded Ukraine in February — could soon be followed with more measures.
"These sanctions will not be our last sanctions," von der Leyen said in the European Parliament. "Yes, we have now banned coal. But now we have to look into oil, and we will have to look into the revenues that Russia gets from the fossil fuels."
The head of the EU's executive arm expanded on the latest six-pronged scheme of sanctions unveiled against Russia following the country's alleged war crimes in Bucha, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital.
In a response, von der Leyen told lawmakers that the EU would ramp up sanctions against the Kremlin and cover six specific "pillars" in proposals which still need to be approved by the bloc.
The EU would ban importing coal from Russia – worth €4 billion ($4.4 billion) a year – in a move not yet seen in the conflict. She outlined plans for future bans on fossil fuels, suggesting that such a block on oil would be part of the next steps to tighten the screw on Vladimir Putin's regime.
In another step, banning transactions with four key Russian banks was also floated. Von der Leyen flagged how the four banks being cut off – including VTB, Russia's second-largest bank – represents 23% of the market share in Russia and will serve to "weaken" its financial system.
The four financial institutions would join the growing list of Russian and Belarusian banks frozen out by the West.
A ban on granting Russian vessels access to European ports was also proposed, alongside a measure to stop exports from Russia's technological and industrial sectors.
The bloc is also voting on Wednesday to halt imports of Russian goods such as wood, cement, seafood and liquor, worth a combined €5.5 billion.
The president also mentioned "very targeted measures" against Russian involvement in EU procurement markets. She said the bloc planned to exclude all financial support to Russian public bodies because "European taxpayers' money should not go to Russia in whatever shape or form."
Von der Leyen expects 40 countries to apply the sanctions, as well as encouraging China to take a position in line with Europe's.
As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, von der Leyen said, "China has a special responsibility to uphold international peace and security."
She warned that neutrality in the war is not possible and said the response to Russia aggression will "define how we globally treat such violations of international law in the future" and that "China has to take a clear stance on that."
President Biden also told reporters on Monday about future U.S. sanctions on Russia after the Bucha killings, although he declined to specify what the sanctions would look like. Biden did however urge that Putin be prosecuted for war crimes.
Von der Leyen also discussed in her speech agreements with the U.S. over broader plans to shift away from wider dependency on Russian gas and fossil fuels, saying that the EU and US have coordinated their response to the war but "are also supporting each other in the transition towards green energy."
"The brave people of Ukraine deserve solidarity from all around the globe," von der Leyen concluded.
-- Additional reporting by Najiyya Budaly and Daniel Wilson. Editing by Ed Harris.
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