The measures will limit Russian s
tate-owned financial institutions with access to EU capital markets and involves imposing an embargo on trade in arms, establishment of an export ban for dual use goods for military end users, and restricting to sensitive technologies particularly in the field of the oil sector.
The package reinforces the measures already adopted by the EU since March 2014 on the situation in Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission (EC) president Jose Manuel Barroso jointly said: "The package of new restrictive measures agreed today by the EU constitutes a powerful signal to the leaders of the Russian Federation: destabilising Ukraine, or any other Eastern European neighbouring state, will bring heavy costs to its economy."
The EU will reverse its decisions and reengage with Russia if the country starts contributing actively and without ambiguities to find a solution for the Ukrainian crisis.
The US and EU have imposed targeted sanctions against various Russian officials and firms in response to the annexation of Crimea.
