The European Union (EU) has come forward with a set of sanctions on Russia that include penalties aimed at oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with Público and Renascença, the Minister of Foreign Affairs says he does not have the “report” of Russian oligarchs with frozen accounts in Portugal, stating that “this is an attribution not of the Government, but of the Bank of Portugal”.

“I can't say, because this is not a matter of foreign policy, I don't want to dare to take for granted something that has happened in another department”, added Augusto Santos Silva, when asked if the Government has this data. In addition, the head of Portuguese diplomacy added that he only spoke with the Bank of Portugal “about the financial sanctions”, given that he himself gave political approval to them.