New package sanctions which targets Russia’s energy infrastructure adopted the European Union (EU) joining the new US effort to limit Moscow’s ability to wage war against Ukraine.
According to a statement from Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, the European measures will ban LNG imports from 2027. The EU will also tighten a ban on trade with two major Russian oil companies and impose sanctions on an additional 117 ships in the so-called “shadow fleet”, which have allowed Russia to circumvent previous measures.
“Sanctions have a real impact and are hurting the Russian economy,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Locke Rasmussen said on Thursday. “Russia is finding it increasingly difficult to fund its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
The package – the Union’s 19th – had been blocked for weeks as Austria, Hungary and Slovakia raised obstacles. The measures were adopted a day after the US announced sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two biggest oil producers.
The EU measures will target 45 entities that helped Russia circumvent sanctions, including 12 companies in China and Hong Kong, according to the statement. They will also ban reinsurance for used Russian aircraft and ships, as well as a complete ban on transactions with five Russian banks, while extending the ban on transactions to Russian electronic payment systems and to third-country banks in Belarus and Kazakhstan.
“The 19th package is very important,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters Thursday before joining European leaders at a summit in Brussels. “But the American sanctions are also very important. And this is a good message to other countries in the world to join the sanctions.”
The potential Trump-Putin meeting had worried European officials, who feared Trump was taking a friendlier stance toward Putin after months of publicly threatening Russia with sanctions and appearing receptive to Ukraine’s requests for additional weapons.
But Zelensky walked away from a meeting with Trump last week without the desired long-range missile commitments. Instead, Trump urged both Zelensky and Putin to declare an immediate ceasefire and start negotiations.
Zelensky is open to that approach and this week co-signed a statement with European leaders when they all backed the proposal.
“A ceasefire is of course possible and I think we all need it,” Zelensky said on Thursday. “But we need more pressure on Russia for a ceasefire.”
Beyond the blow to Russian energy, the EU package targets 45 entities that have helped Russia circumvent sanctions, including 12 companies in China and Hong Kong, according to the statement. It will also ban reinsurance for used Russian aircraft and ships and includes a complete ban on transactions with five Russian banks.
In addition, the package extends the ban on transactions in Russian electronic payment systems and third-party banks in Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Importantly, the package also clamps down on Russian cryptocurrency finance by banning crypto services for Russian nationals, residents and entities.