The European Commission plans to introduce a number of changes to the sanctions against Moscow on Friday so that they do not affect exports of food and grain from Russia, Reuters reported citing sources.

At the same time, according to the sources, the European Commission also intends to introduce new anti-Russian restrictions on gold, chemicals, and mechanical engineering. “The draft package, which needs approval from EU governments, includes a ban on the import of Russian gold into the EU, which would be applicable from the adoption of the new sanctions, as firstly reported by Reuters before the G7 agreed on the measure in June,” the report said.

According to Reuters, “One source said the measure would also hit imports of Russian gold through third countries but did not elaborate on how it would work.”

In June, the G7 states agreed on an embargo on Russian gold. However, such measures were mostly symbolic, since due to financial sanctions previously introduced by the European Union, Russia has already stopped trading this metal on Western platforms.

Source: Agencies