Belgium has blocked 196.4 billion euros (or about $215 billion) in transactions and 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion) in assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Belgian Minister of Finance.
In a statement reported by CNN, Vincent Van Peteghem said the frozen assets belong to 877 people and 62 entities that appear on the European sanctions list, and the blocked transactions are the result of the other restrictions imposed by the European Union on Russia.
“The financial sanctions against Russia are already having a major impact today,” Van Peteghem said while cautioning that “it is clearly not enough for the Russian regime to stop the brutal invasion and inhumane war scenes.”
“That is why we should not hesitate and push through with a fifth package of sanctions,” he added.
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He also called on, “all Member States to follow the measures very strictly, just like Belgium.”
The announcement comes as the White House announced that it will impose a new set of sanctions on Russia Wednesday in coordination with G7 nations and the European Union.
According to a member of President Joe Biden’s administration, the sweeping package “will impose significant costs on Russia and send it further down the road of economic, financial, and technological isolation.”
“The new sanctions package will ban all new investment in Russia, increase sanctions on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises in Russia and sanction Russian government officials and their family members,” a statement from the White House said, according to CNN.
