European Union agrees to freeze Abramovich’s assets.
The European Union has reportedly agreed to sanction Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich by freezing his assets.
Top EU diplomats have decided to informally add the mega-rich owner of the Blues to the list of Russian billionaires sanctioned after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The green light for the oligarch’s sanction was given at a meeting on Sunday, with EU set to gather Monday morning again to enforce further economic sanctions against Russia.
The new sanctions are expected to take effect within hours or a day after they are formally approved and published in the Official Journal of the EU.
Abramovich and other Russian oligarchs will be added to the EU list, with dozens already sanctioned.
It is the latest in a series of Western moves against Russian billionaires.
Along with the freezing of Russian state assets and cutting the country’s corporate sector from the global economy, sanctions are being applied with the aim of forcing Vladimir Putin to cancel his occupation of Ukraine.
The EU decision comes as the final blow to Abramovich in particular, who has already been blacklisted by the UK.