Updated at 11.20am
EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has said that any Russian assets in Ireland will be frozen, and their owners prohibited from “touching them”.
Under the sanctions imposed by the EU Russian assets will be frozen, so the owners cannot profit from their sale or remove them from European territory, she told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.
There was a need to ensure that the sanctions have the maximum impact so that Russian president Vladimir Putin would not have ongoing funding to continue the war against Ukraine.
Sadly this was likely to be a protracted war which was going to have a huge impact on people, she warned.
When asked about appeals for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, Ms McGuinness said there had to be caution as a knee-jerk reaction had to be avoided. The responsibility for any decision on the issue rested with Nato.
Care had to be taken not to escalate an already fraught situation. “There is a need for cool heads.”
If the war was protracted the EU would have to decide how best to support Ukraine. She said she believed that Europe was united and that would be translated into sanctions.
Ms McGuinness said she did not know if Putin had a “heart of stone” or “he just doesn’t care.”
The war was not of the EU’s making, but it would have repercussions and consequences for Europe. Putin would not pull back until he runs out of money. In the meantime it was pragmatic to keep lines of communication open and not to expel ambassadors who had to know that a line had been crossed.
There will be more sanctions to come, she added.
Nothing was being spared in the care of refugees for whom the EU had detailed plans, the situation was being well managed and was under control, she said
'Deep resiliance'
Earlier, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said that more sanctions will be imposed by the EU in a bid to target the Russian economy and its ability to finance the war on Ukraine.
Speaking to the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk while en route from Estonia to Finland, Mr Donohoe said that measures such as stopping access by the Central Bank of Russia to its foreign reserves were having a “significant” impact on Russia as its stock exchange was closed and the value of the rouble was declining.
“More will be done” and there will be even greater focus on fully implementing the current sanctions, he added.
There was concern in the Baltic countries that in time they too could become the target of Putin, and he had been hearing views on what the EU could do. When they looked at what had happened in Georgia and in the Crimea they were “deeply concerned” about the future.
The Baltic countries were looking to Nato for their security but to the EU for economic aspects, he said.
The EU would maintain the sanctions, but would need “deep resilience”, he warned.
