Poland downbeat about 10th Russia sanctions package

Poland is disappointed with the preliminary proposal for the 10th package of EU sanctions against Russia.

"This is below our expectations," said Polish Ambassador to the European Union Andrzej Sadosz, according to RMF24.

The previous draft of sanctions was presented by the European Commission to the EU countries at the weekend. On February 13, EU countries will receive customs codes for each of the goods subject to sanctions, and on February 15 as expected, the EC will already submit a legislative draft of sanctions.

Poland considers the project to be "below expectations" because it does not include sanctions against Rosatom, which was Ukraine's main demand, which Warsaw supported.

At a summit in Brussels last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the inclusion of the Russian nuclear sector and Rosatom in the sanctions list.

The Polish ambassador notes there are also no sanctions for the forced adoption of Ukrainian children. The main Polish requirement is also missing: the exclusion of Gazprom from the system that awards certificates for low CO2 emissions.

There is also no ban on the import of Russian diamonds, which is incomprehensible for Poland after the first positive statements by Belgium, which had the greatest resistance in this matter. According to one of the diplomats, Belgium failed to convince the G7 countries that these should be joint sanctions, not just EU sanctions.

But the EC proposed sanctions against four Russian banks and a ban on the import of Russian rubber, which Poland also sought. The package should also include additional bans on the export of electronic components that Russia uses to produce weapons.

It is expected that the new trade bans will cost Russia 10 billion euros, but, as one diplomat said, this amount is calculated in the prices of 2021 and is therefore greatly overstated.