EU takes aim at countries helping Russia to avoid sanctions

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

Brussels (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is urging EU member nations to take trade measures against countries that help the Kremlin circumvent the bloc’s sanctions against Russia. China is warning that it will retaliate, if targeted. Von der Leyen says the measures should be part of a new round of sanctions that member countries are discussing to undermine Russia’s war effort. She said Tuesday that “if we see that goods are going from the European Union to third countries and then end up in Russia, we could propose to the member states to sanction those goods.” She didn’t name the countries, but EU officials are concerned about flows of goods through China and Iran.