The new European Union sanctions against Russia have gone into effect today, and include the blocking of loans for five major State banks, as well as curbing the EU’s business with oil and defense companies, as reported by the BBC.
The EU’s aim is to keep up pressure on Russia over the crisis in the Ukraine, but the EU has stated that these measures could be either eased or completely cancelled if the ceasefire in the Ukraine holds.
Russia has announced that it is preparing a response, and one official said that cars imported from the EU could be one of the things that are targeted.
NATO claims that Russia still maintains approximately 1,000 heaviy armed troops in the eastern Ukraine.