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Paris threatens to block Kiev aid, Russia sanctions over Ukraine’s 'sponsors of war' list

It is reported that the Ukrainian authorities have been debating what to do with the list since the EU’s sanctions package was for the first time blocked by Hungary and Greece

BRUSSELS, March 22. /TASS/. France threatened to block further European aid to Ukraine as well as the adoption of more EU sanctions on Russia unless Kiev took down its "sponsors of war" list, the EUobserver online newspaper reports, citing sources.

According to the news website, Beijing, in turn, planned to restrict the import of Ukrainian food products as long as Kiev maintained the list, which contains 14 Chinese companies.

The Ukrainian authorities have been debating what to do with the list since the EU’s sanctions package was for the first time blocked by Hungary and Greece, a source told EUobserver.

Reuters reported earlier, citing sources, that Ukraine could scrap the blacklist due to pressure from certain countries, including China and France. According to the news agency, the Kiev authorities could delete the website, which contains detailed information on individuals and entities sanctioned by the West, as well as on the origin of Russian weapons parts, on March 22.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian government announced the decision to actually remove the blacklist from the public domain. In addition, the Ukrainian authorities questioned the need to maintain the list following an expanded cabinet meeting that involved diplomats from a number of countries, namely the UK, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Canada, China, the US, France and Japan.

Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention announced on January 15 that about 50 companies from various countries had been put on the "sponsors of war" list.

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