European companies sell these materials to other countries who resell them to Russia.
The Russian Federation has been able to return exports of Western microchips and electronics to levels seen before the full-scale war and international sanctions began. This was stated by Jim O’Brien, sanctions coordinator at the U.S. State Department, Politico reported.
He said Russia has stepped up its efforts to circumvent sanctions and continues to export Western microchips and electronics they need to keep the war going.
“By the start of this year, Russia was able to reimport certain key categories of electronics at about pre-war levels,” Jim O’Brien told Politico.
This refers to microcircuits, processors, as well as integrated circuits, which are found in modern weapons that the Russian Federation uses on the battlefield.
The main problem is that European countries sell the parts to other countries, and then they resell what they receive to the Russian Federation.
United States representatives also point out that at least five countries are involved, including: Turkey, Kazakhstan, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, and Armenia. Therefore, to date, Jim O’Brien summed up, circumventing Western sanctions is a significant problem and should be addressed immediately.
In addition, EU ambassadors at closed-door talks on 7 June failed to reach an agreement on a draft 11th sanctions package against Russia, Politico reported, citing diplomatic sources.
According to them, after the initial draft of the 11th sanctions package was blocked in May, EU ambassadors continued negotiations but have not yet been able to reach an agreement. Their next meeting will be held on June 14.
