EU eyes tariffs to 'choke off' Russian grain sales

EU plans to impose prohibitive tariffs on Russian and Belarusian grain imports to choke off war funding.

The EU is looking to "choke off" revenue Russia uses for its war on Ukraine by slapping "prohibitive tariffs" on grain and related imports into the bloc, under a plan being put to a leaders summit on March 22.

Moscow responded immediately by saying Europeans would "suffer" from the move.

The added sanctions, welcomed by Kyiv, will not apply to Russian grain transiting through the European Union to other markets, so as not to disrupt food supplies elsewhere, EU Commissioner of Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained to the EU leaders meeting in Brussels on March 21, via video link, that it was not fair that Russian grain continued to have "unrestricted" access to their markets, while Ukrainian imports were being limited.

Brussels has been seeking to increase pressure on Moscow's finances after several rounds of sanctions that have already frozen Russian assets in the 27-nation bloc, targeted leaders including President Vladimir Putin and curbed trade.

At the same time, the European Commission has been multiplying concessions to EU farmers, who have been holding protests over depressed income, part of which they blame on grain imports from war-torn Ukraine.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on March 21 that the proposed tariffs would "prevent Russian grain from destabilising the EU market in these products".