EU's Von der Leyen: Will weaken Russia’s economic base and its capacity to modernise

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that Europe is facing an unprecedented act of aggression by the Russian leadership against a sovereign, independent country, as reported by Reuters.

Key takeaways

"President Putin is responsible for bringing the war back to Europe."

"We will target strategic sectors of the Russian economy by blocking their access to key technologies and markets."

"We will weaken Russia's economic base and its capacity to modernise."

"We will freeze Russian assets in the EU and stop the access of Russian banks to the European financial market."

Market reaction

Safe-haven flows continue to dominate the financial markets on Thursday. US stocks futures indexes are down between 2.6% and 3.3%.