The European Union's sanctions evasion clampdown - aimed at stopping countries from inadvertently providing Russia with EU-made technology used in military equipment - should start at home, according to the bloc's sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan.
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00:00 Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world following its invasion of Ukraine.
00:08 But some critical items such as cars as well as household appliances like washing machines,
00:13 dishwashers, microwaves, which include microchip and semiconductors used to make drones, munitions
00:19 and other lethal hardware, are making their way onto the battlefield in Ukraine despite
00:24 being prohibited from sale to Russia.
00:27 It appears that companies in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Armenia, China and others, countries which
00:32 are not in lining with EU sanctions, have been supplying Russia with these items.
00:36 The job of the EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan is to use diplomatic pressure to persuade
00:41 countries not to circumvent Western sanctions.
00:48 I think we have to be realistic.
00:50 There's always going to be a degree of circumvention.
00:52 There's money to be made.
00:53 A lot of these products have all previously been sold to other countries and are kind
00:58 of out there on the free market.
01:00 But I think our main objective, and in this I think we are succeeding, is to make it harder,
01:05 to make it slower and to make it more expensive for Russia to access these products.
01:10 So every time we shut off one avenue, a new one has to be developed.
01:15 And I think that's our objective, is progressively to make it harder, slower and much more expensive
01:21 for Russia to be able to procure this.
01:24 He also says that while Russia is getting access to some critical pieces, Western efforts
01:29 are working in hampering Russia's ability to replenish its military machinery.
01:34 I mean there are things that have a perfectly innocent civilian application in normal circumstances,
01:40 but also they are largely made with US or EU technology.
01:44 They are not easily replicated in other countries.
01:48 So it is hard for Russia to get them as we cease to export them and as we persuade countries,
01:55 intermediary countries, no longer to re-export them to Russia.
01:59 And I think, yes, we do see some evidence that it's getting much more difficult and
02:03 they are using substitute products, sometimes of Chinese origin, but which are of inferior
02:08 quality to be frank.
02:10 So this is giving the Ukrainian military a certain technological advantage on the battlefield.
02:16 The EU's sanctions envoy insists that sanctions are working as they are slowly hampering Russia's
02:21 war effort, but warns it will take time and commitment to ensure they pay off.
02:26 Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.
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