EU to Lift Sanctions on Some Russian Banks' Assets for Food Trade

The European Union (EU) will lift sanctions on certain assets of Russian banks necessary for the trade of food and fertilizers. This is stated in a draft document of the EU read by Reuters.

According to the document, VTB, Sovcombank, VEB.RF, Otkritie, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, and Novikombank will be exempted from sanctions.

The EU also plans to freeze the assets of Sberbank, with the exception of resources necessary for food trade.

The draft states that the EU will release the assets once it is established that these resources are