New Sanctions Package Against Russia is in Preparation: France's Foreign Minister

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barraud has announced that Europe is preparing a new sanctions package against Russia in the event of a "failure" in the negotiations for resolving the Ukraine conflict. The measures may be coordinated with a secondary sanctions bill proposed by American Senator Lindsey Graham, according to statements made by Barraud to AFP.

On May 1, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham introduced a proposal for secondary sanctions against the Russian Federation. The proposal includes imposing a 500% tariff on imports from countries that purchase Russian oil, petroleum products, natural gas, or uranium.

“We Europeans are ready to accompany this American initiative with the 17th sanctions package, and yesterday I committed to Lindsey Graham that we will try to coordinate these two packages,” said Jean-Noël Barraud.

It is also worth noting that in February, the U.S. President extended all restrictions against Russia for another year. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Washington is not imposing new sanctions on Moscow to avoid hindering the resolution of the Ukraine conflict.