The French Foreign Ministry announced the need to limit the movement of Russian diplomats across the EU

The European Union (EU) should increase sanctions pressure on Russia, which will limit the movement of Russian diplomats across Europe. This was announced on June 15 by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barraud on the Public Senat TV channel.

"We will continue to strengthen [sanctions], going further, restricting the movement of Russian diplomats on European territory, but perhaps in a slightly different way than we have done so far," he said.

The head of French diplomacy stressed that the 18th package of EU anti-Russian sanctions should be approved soon, which will become "one of the most powerful" since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. It clarifies that the restrictions presented in it will be directed against the Russian oil and gas industry, as well as against third countries that allegedly help Russia circumvent already imposed sanctions.

According to Barraud, the purpose of the new restrictive measures is France's intention to get rid of dependence on Russian energy resources, including oil and gas. He added that he expects the United States to introduce new restrictions against Russia in addition to the European ones.

Counter act: Russia will respond to the 18th package of EU sanctions

How can the Russian Federation react and how much will the European Union lose from the new restrictions

On June 7, the Bloomberg news agency reported that the US Congress would not pass Senator Lindsey Graham's bill (listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist) on new anti-Russian sanctions without the approval of American leader Donald Trump. The American leader replied that he had not yet studied it, and stressed that he would make the final decision on the introduction of new sanctions himself.