Page 24 - bne IntelliNews monthly country report Russia February 2024

2.7 Politics - misc
● International Politics
Ukraine submits proposals for 13th batch of EU sanctions. Ukraine has already submitted its proposals for further targeted sanctions on Russian entities to the European Commission, deputy Ukrainian presidential chief-of-staff Ihor Zhovkva, said on national TV on December 18.
Russia has no reason or interest to fight with Nato directly, Putin said on December 17. Putin denied that he has designs to attack any Nato country, reacting to the speech of US President Joe Biden earlier in the month, which warned that if Russia wins in Ukraine it will attack a Nato country next.
New Nato member Finland didn't have problems before, but now it will. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Finland is "now going to have problems" because it joined Nato, on the same morning that he claimed not to be interested in fighting any Nato members.
US targets over 250 individuals, entities in major new Russia sanctions package. The U.S. Treasury and State departments announced fresh sanctions on Dec. 12 against over 250 individuals and entities in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
The G7 countries agreed on sanctions against Russian diamonds on December 8. The G7 states announced on December 6 that they intend to introduce restrictions on Russian diamonds by January 1, 2024.
The number of contenders for presidential nomination in Russia’s upcoming election has reached 29, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairperson Ella Pamfilova said at a commission meeting on December 23. Under Russia’s law on the presidential election, self-nominated candidates must secure the support of a group of voters, informing the CEC of the group’s meeting in advance and submitting paperwork to the commission by December 27. Political parties have the right to nominate their candidates at congresses; party candidates must submit paperwork by January 1.
The US is introducing new anti-Russian sanctions and cutting off gas supplies from the new Russian project; Switzerland joins the 12th package. Joe Biden signed a decree providing for economic measures against foreign financial institutions involved in supplying sanctioned military goods to Russia. Banks, pension funds, operators of payment systems, and their "subsidiaries" can fall under these sanctions. The document also introduced restrictions on Russian diamonds. Meanwhile, the start of liquefied gas supply from the new Russian project, Arctic LNG 2, was postponed after the Russian
24 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com