EU may add aluminum products to new sanctions package against Russia

Russian aluminum products may be included in the thirteenth package of anti-Russian sanctions, the Politico newspaper said, citing a source in the EU.

The European Union is thus going to introduce sanctions against the Russian energy sector; as electricity accounts for 40 per cent of production costs in aluminum smelting, TASS reports.

"Previous sanctions left around 85 per cent of Russian exports of the metal to the EU untouched, according to trade organization European Aluminium," the newspaper noted. According to a European diplomat, EU member states will soon start discussing "additional elements which will eventually become a proposal for a full ban," Politico said.

The EU is going to introduce new sanctions against Russia by the second anniversary of the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, an EU spokesman told reporters earlier.