European Commission weighs sanctions on Russia's mining industry - FT

Dec 6 (Reuters) - The European Commission is considering a ban on new investments in Russia's mining sector as part of a fresh set of sanctions aimed at eroding the Kremlin's ability to fund its war against Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The ban would be part of a ninth European Union (EU) sanctions package that officials are planning to discuss with member states in the coming days, the newspaper reported, citing people with knowledge of the discussions.

Officials hope to have the ban, which will exempt some specific products, agreed by the end of next week, it said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting Western sanctions against Moscow have fuelled fears about supplies of key commodities produced and exported by Russian companies.

The FT said the new sanctions package could also include export controls on civilian technologies that Brussels believes Russia is using to support its arms factories, a ban on transactions with three more Russian banks, and targeted sanctions against another 180 individuals. (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru Editing by Mark Potter)