Russia-Ukraine War: EU Continues Working to Improve Sanctions on Russia, Says Germany's Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the European Union was working toward improving its sanctions on Russia. Scholz added that the bloc’s latest round of sanctions on Russia would not be the last.

Scholz was speaking to reporters on Tuesday, where he was pressed on whether he supported the expansion of sanctions to include Chinese firms. Scholz said that the goal was to improve the existing sanctions, adding that the bloc’s latest round of sanctions on Russia was not the last.

This comes as Russia has been under an unprecedented number of sanctions from the West since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year. The sanctions have mostly targeted the Russian elite, including officials tied to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

EU countries are set to hold a first discussion on Wednesday on the potential new sanctions on Moscow that could also target Chinese and Iranian companies. This would also allow export controls on third countries to evade existing trade sanctions.

One diplomat said that talks between the EU envoys of the member countries are expected to be heated, with some expected to say that the measures are not enough while others would be wary of damaging their international relations.

Meanwhile, the British defense ministry on Wednesday said in its intelligence bulletin that Russia’s Victory Day parade this year, which took place on Tuesday at the Red Square, was an indication of the Russian military’s strategic and communications challenges 15 months into its war in Ukraine. The ministry said that around 8,000 personnel are said to have participated in the parade, but most were made up of “auxiliary, paramilitary forces, and cadets from military training establishments.”

Only the units of Railway troops and the military police from Russia’s deployable formations were the ones that took part in the parade.

“A vintage T-34 from a ceremonial unit was the sole tank on the parade. Despite heavy losses in Ukraine, Russia could have fielded more armored vehicles. The authorities likely refrained from doing so because they want to avoid domestic criticism about prioritizing parades over combat operations,” said the ministry.

Photo by European Commission / Wikimedia Commons (CC by 2.0)