On 24 February 2022, the High Representative issued a declaration on behalf of the Union condemning in the strongest possible terms the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by armed forces of the Russian Federation and the involvement of Belarus in this aggression against Ukraine. The High Representative indicated that the Union’s response will include both sectoral and individual restrictive measures.
In view of the gravity of the situation, the Council considers that the members of the National Security Council who supported Russia’s immediate recognition of the two self-proclaimed republics Donetsk and Luhansk should be added to the list of persons, entities and bodies subject to restrictive measures set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 269/2014. In addition, that list should include the persons who facilitated the Russian military aggression from Belarus, as well as those members of the State Duma not yet included in that list who ratified the government decisions of the ‘Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Russian Federation and the Donetsk People’s Republic and between the Russian Federation and the Luhansk People’s Republic’.
Accordingly, the persons listed in the Annex to this Regulation shall be added to the list set out in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 269/2014.
