New EU Sanctions Against Russia Should Not Greatly Affect Ordinary Citizens, Says Italian Minister

ROME (Sputnik) - Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday that new EU sanctions against Moscow should not lead to major consequences for ordinary Russian citizens and entrepreneurs.

"We are well aware that protecting values comes at a cost. However, we do not want this price of families and enterprises to be paid in a too heavy form," Tajani told reporters on the sidelines of a public event in the Italian city of Bergamo, commenting on the statement of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on the preparation of the ninth package of sanctions against Moscow.

According to the minister, who was quoted as saying by Italian news agency Askanews, Rome hopes that everything that is being done serves to establish peace, remembering that protecting Ukraine means allowing the country not to be defeated by Russia and, therefore, to be able to put Ukrainians and Russians at the same table.

Earlier in the day, von der Leyen said that the EU was working "full speed" on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia.

On November 11, an EU source told Sputnik that the bloc would introduce the ninth package of sanctions against Moscow significantly later than it initially planned due to "sanction fatigue" among member states and a limited amount of pressure tools.

Western countries have set the course for isolating Russia after it launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. They rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, with the EU pledging to end its dependence on Russian energy supplies. The bloc has already approved eight packages of sanctions against Moscow.