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The European Union executive proposed on Wednesday an eighth round of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, including tighter trade restrictions, more individual blacklistings and an oil price cap for third countries.

The proposal will now go to the bloc's 27 member countries, which will need to overcome their differences to implement the new sanctions on top of seven sets of punitive measures imposed on Russia since its forces swept into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

That may take time despite the EU being spurred into action by Russia's military mobilisation last week, nuclear threats and steps to annex a swathe of Ukraine, after invading the former Soviet republic that aspires to join the EU.

"We do not accept the sham referenda (in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine) nor any kind of annexation...And we are determined to make the Kremlin pay the price for this further escalation," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters.

"We are proposing a new package of biting sanctions."

The Group of Seven major industrialised countries - which includes EU countries Italy, France and Germany - have already agreed to put an oil price cap in place via insurers.

Earlier on Wednesday, a senior economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the EU to further cut money flows to Russia from fossil fuel sales.

"If you are doing nothing it means you are just prolonging this war with Ukraine. This is just ridiculous. The whole civilised world has to be united on that," said Oleg Ustenko.

While the EU already agreed to stop importing Russian oil starting later this year, Ustenko said "blood money" would keep on flowing to Moscow unless European companies were banned from insuring Russia's seaborne shipments to other countries.

UNANIMITY

The proposed sanctions fall short of harder-hitting measures, including a ban on importing Russian diamonds, sought by Russia hawks Poland and the three Baltic countries.

But EU states need unanimity to impose sanctions and the oil cap might be too much for Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who cultivates close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been a vocal critic of economic restrictions.

Ustenko hoped Hungary would eventually agree, and that EU countries with large shipping fleets - Greece, Malta and Cyprus - would also back more measures hitting Russian oil revenues.

Speaking next to von der Leyen, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was also blacklisting more individuals from Russia's defence sector, those involved in ad hoc votes organised by Moscow in occupied Ukrainian territories, those the West blames for spreading Russian propaganda and those helping to circumvent sanctions against Moscow.

Poland's EU ambassador said the proposed individual sanctions would include Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close Kremlin ally, after previous attempts to blacklist him in the EU were blocked by Hungary.

Von der Leyen said a new imports ban would cost Russia 7 billion euros in lost revenues and that the EU would also expand the list of prohibited exports "to deprive the Kremlin's war machine of key technologies".

Under the proposal, European companies would be barred from providing more services to Russia and European citizens would not be allowed to sit on boards of Russian state companies.

This would be a nod to popular outrage over the cases of Gerhard Schroeder and Francois Fillon - former top European politicians who subsequently took jobs on Russian boards.

The Commission was due to present details of the proposal to member states at a closed-door meeting later on Wednesday and the 27 were expected to have a first discussion on Friday before national EU leaders meet in Prague on Oct. 6-7. (Reuters)

 The United States is working with allies and partners to quickly impose severe economic costs on Moscow over "sham" referendums held by Russia in occupied regions of Ukraine, according to prepared remarks from the U.S. State Department's head of sanctions coordination on Wednesday.

James O'Brien, in testimony prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he expects that the Biden administration's pace of announcing sanctions on Russia on average every six weeks will continue, as Washington continues to focus on choke points in the Russian economy and its military supply chains.

"There will be more packages. We are working on more sanctions," O'Brien told the committee.

"Everything is on the table," he said, adding that Washington would look to the financial sector and high technology, especially for energy exploitation, and human rights violators.

Moscow was poised on Wednesday to annex a swath of Ukraine, releasing what it called vote tallies showing support in four partially occupied provinces to join Russia, after what Kyiv and the West denounced as illegal sham referendums held at gunpoint.

Russian-backed authorities claim to have carried out the referendums over five days on territory that makes up around 15% of Ukraine.

The United States has imposed several tranches of sanctions targeting Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, which has reduced cities to rubble and killed or wounded thousands.

But senators pressed O'Brien and Elizabeth Rosenberg, Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, on U.S. sanctions on Russia's energy sector.

Washington and its G7 partners have said they will put a price cap on Russian oil in place, but has held back from directly targeting major Russian energy companies over concerns about energy prices and supply.

"The largest source of hard currency that Russia has now is from energy sales," Rosenberg said.

"It's in energy where we must focus our attention in order to deny Russia that revenue."

O'Brien warned that it was time for India, which has been buying large amounts of Russian oil, more than it did before the Feb. 24 invasion, to reconsider where it's positioning itself geopolitically.

While India's purchases have been at discounts, the heavy volumes have been helping Moscow's economy. The United States and other G7 countries hope India will join a plan to place a price cap on Russian oil by December to further decrease Moscow's revenues from oil exports, which help fund its war machine.

O'Brien also said Washington will continue working with China to ensure it understands U.S. sanctions and the effect they have on China's engagement with Russia.

As Western nations have shunned Russia, it has put emphasis on cooperation with China. The two nations have increased their trade and Russian companies have started issuing debt in yuan. (Reuters)

Indonesia’s efforts to bring about a rural transformation with the help of digitalization were highlighted during a recent meeting between the Agriculture Minister and the director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The meeting between Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo and FAO director general Qu Dongyu took place on the sidelines of the G20 Agriculture Ministerial Meeting in Jimbaran, Bali, on Tuesday.

In the current Industry 4.0 era, agricultural activities no longer rely on manual labor, but combine mechanization with digital technology, which can make agricultural cultivation businesses more precise, Minister Limpo said, according to a press release received from FAO Indonesia here on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Qu reaffirmed his support for Indonesia’s efforts to develop a national e-agriculture strategy, including guidance on agriculture data integrity in the use of geospatial information.

"Digitalization plays an important role in accelerating progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals by diversifying incomes and unlocking on-farm and off-farm employment and business opportunities, especially for the new generation of farmers and young people," Qu said.

According to the FAO, digitalization encompasses all stages of agrifood systems, including food production, distribution, trade, processing, and consumption.

Indonesia is currently putting all its efforts into transforming rural areas through digitalization that can ease smallholders' integration into markets to foster sustainable income and improve livelihoods, it said.

The FAO director general praised the establishment of Indonesia’s Agriculture Control Room (Agriculture War Room), which uses advanced digital technologies to improve data and evidence-based decision-making.

During the meeting, Minister Limpo shared his views on the Ministry of Agriculture's cooperation with the FAO in the animal health sector. The cooperation is focused on the One Health approach to addressing emerging infectious diseases (EID) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Limpo lauded the FAO's quick response in providing technical support for tackling the lumpy skin disease (LSD) outbreak in Sumatra province early this year, followed by the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth Disease (FMD) in almost 34 provinces.

He also thanked the FAO for its timely action in assisting farmers in East Sumba who have been battling a locust outbreak, which has affected most green leaves and damaged corn, rice, and vegetable crops, thereby causing severe food insecurity.

During the meeting, Qu thanked Indonesia for its longstanding collaboration with the FAO on sustainably transforming agrifood systems.

He expressed the hope that Indonesia's prominent role in the Southeast Asian region will help bring the importance of agrifood system transformation into the limelight as a regional priority.

Indonesia became a member of the FAO in 1948, and an FAO representation office was established in the country in 1978. Collaboration between the FAO and Indonesia across the food and agricultural sectors, including in fisheries and forestry, has strengthened over the last several decades.

So far, more than 650 projects and programs have been implemented by the FAO across Indonesia with the assistance of more than 1,600 experts and consultants, both national and international. (Antaranews)

Local customs, traditions, and wisdom are among the nation’s strengths and must always be maintained and preserved, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said after being conferred a customary title from the Sultanate of Ternate on Wednesday.

"I received a title called ‘Dada Madopo Malomo’ from the Sultanate of Ternate -- from the 49th Sultan of Ternate, Hidayatullah Sjah. About the meaning of the title, we will ask the Sultan directly," he said at the Palace of Sultanate of Ternate, Ternate city, North Maluku province, on Wednesday.

He lauded the Sultanate for its efforts to maintain and preserve local customs, traditions, and wisdom in the region.

"These (efforts) are (the manifestation of) what I often say: having a personality in (preserving) culture," he remarked.

The President said that maintaining customs and traditions is important since Indonesia is a large country. In fact, Indonesia's cultural diversity is its strength.

"The diversity of (cultures in) our country must continue to be preserved and maintained as a strength. Diversity should not divide (people), but unite (them) instead," he added.

Prior to being conferred the title “Dada Madopo Malomo,” which means “the Leader of a Great State,” Widodo was also given the title of “Kaicil” or “the Noble Prince of the Ternate Sultanate Family."

The Fanyira (elder) of the Palace of the Sultanate of Ternate, Rizal Effendi, informed that the title was conferred during a ceremony at the palace.

He prayed that the President would always be healthy and safe.

The ceremony was conducted before Widodo carried out a series of working visits in Ternate city, West Halmahera district, and Tidore Islands city, North Maluku province, on Wednesday.

He also took part in the Joko Kaha ritual, a traditional ceremony for receiving important guests, which was conducted in the palace courtyard. (Antaranews)