The European Union is looking to hit Moscow once more with a round of sanctions in an attempt to cripple its war efforts in Ukraine, this time hitting Russia's gold industry.
The 28 nation bloc is planning to impose a similar ban on the sanctions package announced last week by four members of the G-7, including the U.S., Canada and Japan, first reported by Bloomberg Friday.
Russia is said to be the second-largest gold mining country in the world and exported $15 billion worth of gold in 2021.
Some 70 entities, including State Corporation Rostec, which it described as the cornerstone of Russia's defense, have been targeted by the sanctions, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Russia's defense industry would be degraded and Russian President Vladimir Putin's capabilities and further impede his war against Ukraine, which has already been plagued by poor morale, broken supply chains and logistical failures.
Germany, France and Italy -- the other three G-7 member nations that have not yet pushed through their own sanction plans, although French officials said they supported such a ban, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a proposal was being discussed.
Industry officials told Bloomberg that the move is largely symbolic, as European markets have effectively cut ties with Moscow after sweeping sanctions on trade penalties earlier in the war.
Exports to Kaliningrad, a Russian province that is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea and without direct land access to Russia, could also be affected by the EU's latest sanctions package.
It is not known when the next set of sanctions will be announced.