Russia warned the West on Wednesday that it was working on a broad response to sanctions that would be swift and felt in the West's most sensitive areas.
Russia's economy is facing the gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union after the West imposed crippling sanctions on almost the entire Russian financial and corporate system following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia's reaction will be swift, thoughtful and sensitive for those it addresses," Dmitry Birichevsky, the director of the Foreign Ministry's department for economic cooperation, was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency.
The European Union has agreed to add more Russian oligarchs and officials to its sanctions blacklist, tighten rules on cryptocurrency transfers and target the maritime sector over Moscow's war in Ukraine, diplomats said Wednesday, as Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The 27-nation bloc also gave the go-ahead to cut three Belarusian banks from the global SWIFT messaging system over Minsk's support for the Kremlin's attack, the French mission, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, tweeted. The EU is looking to close off loopholes in the unprecedented barrage of sanctions it unleashed along with Western allies after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion.
The move targeting cryptocurrencies is meant to prevent blacklisted individuals and companies using the encrypted digital systems to circumvent the EU's sanctions. The bloc is also adding to its list of banned technologies that can be exported to Russia as it seeks to erode the country's industrial base.
The full details of the latest sanctions are set to be unveiled shortly when they are formally published in the EU's official journal.
The EU is trying to ratchet up pressure on the Kremlin and officials say they are ready to impose further sanctions on Moscow if it does not end the war. But the bloc has so far rejected targeting Russia's key oil and gas exports given the reliance of member states on energy from its giant eastern neighbor.
United States President Joe Biden on Tuesday imposed an immediate ban on Russian oil and other energy imports in retaliation for the invasion.
Russia warned earlier this week that oil prices could shoot up to over $300 per barrel if the U.S. and European Union banned imports of crude from Russia. Russia says Europe consumes about 500 million tonnes of oil a year. Russia supplies around 30% of that, or 150 million tonnes, as well as 80 million tonnes of petrochemicals.
Putin says the "special military operation" is essential to ensure Russian security after the U.S. enlarged the NATO military alliance to Russia's borders and supported pro-Western leaders in Kyiv. Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence and the U.S. and its European and Asian allies have condemned the Russian invasion.
China, the world's second-largest economy, has called for restraint but President Xi Jinping has cautioned that sanctions will slow down the world economy.