EU agrees to ban Russian gold as it tightens sanctions over Ukraine

Latest package hits technology exports and blacklists more than 50 people and entities

The prolonged fighting in Ukraine has raised questions about the effectiveness of EU sanctions on Russia. AFP

European diplomats on Wednesday agreed on a package of tighter sanctions on Russia that will ban gold imports and freeze the assets of Moscow's biggest bank.

The measures adopted by ambassadors from the European Union's 27 member states will tighten export controls on high-tech equipment and blacklist more Russian oligarchs, as the continent tries to increase the cost to the Kremlin of invading Ukraine.

The EU billed the latest measures as a tweak to its six previous rounds of sanctions on Russia, tightening them in places while reassuring traders that food exports would not breach EU law.

"The rapid and consensual progress underlines that the EU is united and determined to support Ukraine," said Michael Clauss, Germany's ambassador in Brussels, after the agreement was reached.

Lithuanian delegate Arnoldas Pranckevicius said more than 50 people and entities were being added to the sanctions list including politicians, military leaders, oligarchs and Kremlin propagandists.

The new package does not include a ban on Russian gas, which Mr Pranckevicius and others had favoured, but is opposed by some member states including Hungary and Austria.

Early rounds of sanctions had passed in record time but the process lost momentum when an oil ban was held up in negotiations for almost a month, before diplomats agreed on a carve-out for landlocked countries.

Hungary subsequently said it opposed any further sanctions but did not stand in the way of what the EU carefully billed as a "maintenance and alignment" package, although some diplomats described it as a seventh round of restrictions.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Wednesday that the EU "must not succumb to sanctions fatigue" despite doubts over whether the measures are working.

"The EU must remain patient, strengthen communication on sanctions among the European countries and not deviate from its course," she said at talks with European Commission member Mairead McGuinness.

The EU ban on gold follows in the footsteps of Britain, the US and Canada and honours an agreement made at the G7 summit in Germany last month to go after Russia's reserves.

An elderly couple stands near a damaged school in the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. EPA

At least one person was killed after shelling hit the school, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service said. EPA

A woman walks past a destroyed market near a railway station in Donetsk. Reuters

Municipal workers clean a street in Donetsk. Reuters

A man passes destroyed buildings in the Ukrainian town of Siversk. AFP

A destroyed school in Siversk. AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman passes by destroyed buildings in Siversk. AFP

A woman's home is repaired by volunteers after being destroyed by shelling in the village of Zalissya. AFP

People fill up water canisters in Mykolaiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Grain fields burn on the outskirts of Kurakhove, Donetsk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. AP Photo

The mother of Ukrainian serviceman Abdulkarim Gulamov, who was killed in a fight against Russian troops in Kherson, attends his funeral in Kyiv. Reuters

People carry pictures of Mr Gulamov at the funeral. Reuters

Ukrainian service members fire a shell from a M777 Howitzer in Kharkiv. Reuters

A man walks in front of a damaged school after a missile strike hit the city of Kramatorsk. EPA

A cyclist rides past burnt cars after a Russian rocket strike in Kharkiv. AFP

Rescuers and servicemen work at a school building damaged by a Russian military strike in Kramatorsk. Reuters

Sasha, 12, a refugee from Ukraine at the humanitarian aid centre set up at the Global Expo exhibition hall in Warsaw, Poland. AFP

Maksym and Andrii, 11-year-old boys, play with plastic guns at a self-made checkpoint along a motorway in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian soldier nicknamed 'Oakland' guards his position at the front line in the Kharkiv region. AP

Ukrainians look at destroyed Russian military equipment at an outdoor exhibition near the Church of the Three Saints in Kyiv. AFP

A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) militia sits in a makeshift bunker near Avdiivka, in the Donbas region of Ukraine. EPA

A DPR militia member monitors a section of the road near Avdiivka. EPA

Ukrainians pass a heavily damaged shopping mall in the city of Kherson. AFP

The rubble of a house in Moshchun village, about 20 kilometres outside Kyiv. EPA

A resident helps a firefighter put out a fire after an air strike in the town of Bakhmut, in the breakaway enclave of Donetsk. AFP

A woman surveys the devastation caused by an air strike in Bakhmut. AFP

Part of a projectile fire by a rocket launcher lies embedded in a wheat field in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. AFP

Members of the public look at a Ukrainian tank destroyed in a Russian attack, in Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv. EPA

Burnt out cars destroyed in Russian attacks are piled up in Hostomel. EPA

Jill Biden, US first lady, left, and US President Joe Biden welcome the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, to the White House. EPA

Miami District Two commissioner Ken Russell, left, and Miami police chief Manuel Morales with weapons collected in the Guns 4 Ukraine initiative, at Miami City Hall in Florida. Guns bought back by Miami will be delivered to sister city Irpin, near Kyiv. EPA

A Ukrainian serviceman stands next to a Grad BM-21 multiple rocket launcher at the front line in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A woman walks her dog in front of a block of flats hit by shelling in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. EPA

A Kramatorsk resident peers out of a window lined with tape to reduce the impact of shattering glass. EPA

The damaged windows of an apartment, after shells hit a residential area in Kramatorsk. EPA

Rescuers working on a residential building partially destroyed by missile strike in Bashtanka, Mykolaiv as the Russian war in Ukraine continues. AFP

An Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle lies by the roadside, having been destroyed by Russian forces in Ukraine. AFP

It is due to take effect on Thursday and will include a ban on importing gold jewellery — with Russian elites already banned from acquiring precious metals from the EU. Russia's biggest bank, Sberbank, will have its assets frozen.

"The new measures will align the EU with G7 partners, reinforce implementation and close loopholes where necessary," said an official from the current Czech presidency of the bloc, which is on rotation.

They said the package contained a "commitment that sanctions won't endanger the food and energy security around the world".

With the war in Ukraine sending food prices rocketing around the world, the EU has been keen to counter the Russian narrative that western sanctions are to blame.

The EU has accused Russia of deliberately bombarding Ukrainian grain stocks but has sought to clarify to businesses that they can handle Russian produce without breaching sanctions.