The European Union (EU) and the UK on Friday announced new sanctions on Russia, targeting its energy and banking sectors as well as military capabilities.
The EU’s 18th sanctions package aims to ramp up pressure against Russia over its more than three-year war on Ukraine. It comes as the US President, Donald Trump, has shown a shift in his stance on Moscow, threatening Russia’s leader of sweeping sanctions if he did not accept a ceasefire agreement.
EU Sanctions Package
The EU and UK jointly announced new measures targeting Russia’s oil revenues. These include reducing the Crude Oil Price Cap from $60 barrel to $47.60, which will drive down the market value of Russian oil, disrupting the flow of oil money into Moscow.
The EU also imposed a port access ban on additional 105 vessels and full-fledged sanctions on companies managing or dealing with them, targeting Russia’s shadow fleet that circumvents Western sanctions.
Moreover, EU introduced an import ban on refined petroleum products made from Russian crude oil and coming from any third country, except Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
The bloc also imposed a full transaction ban on Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines between Russia and Germany. Furthermore, the measures targeted Russia’s banking sector, including two Chinese banks. It also hit Moscow’s military industry, including tighter export restrictions on 26 entities over dual-use goods and technologies.
Strong Message
On this occasion, the EU Foreign Policy Chief, Kaja Kallas, said: “The EU just approved one of its strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date. Each sanction weakens Russia’s ability to wage war.”
She underscored Europe’s commitment to supporting Ukraine. “The message is clear: Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war,” Kallas added.
Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said: “As Putin continues to stall on serious peace talks, we will not stand by. That’s why we’re striking at the heart of the Russian energy sector alongside the EU.”
He added that Britain will continue to increase pressure on Russia to stop its war in Ukraine. “Together we will continue to apply relentless pressure on Putin, squeezing his critical oil industry and cutting off funding for his illegal war in Ukraine,” he noted.
UK Sanctions
Separately, the UK announced sanctions on 3 units of Russia’s military intelligence service, GRU, and 18 military intelligence officers for spreading chaos and disorder upon orders from the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
Their actions involved the bombing of the Mariupol Theatre, the targeting of Yulia Skripal, and cyber operations targeting the UK and others.
“GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilize Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,” Lammy said.
“Putin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve. The UK and our Allies support for Ukraine and Europe’s security is ironclad,” he added.
Russian Rejection
In response to the newly announced sanctions, Moscow said it opposes such “illegal” measures, according to the Associated Press (AP). Speaking to reporters in a conference call, the Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said: “We consider such unilateral restrictions unlawful.”
But he added that Russia has adapted to living under sanctions. “At the same time, of course, we have already acquired a certain immunity from sanctions. We have adapted to life under sanctions. We will need to analyze the new package in order to minimize negative consequences from it,” Peskov said.
Trump’s Threats
The European measures come as Trump on Monday threatened Russian energy buyers of massive “100% secondary tariffs” if Russia does not end its war on Ukraine within 50 days. This marked a dramatic shift from his previous position.
Trump also confirmed that the US would send the much-needed Patriot air defense systems and other weapons to Ukraine via NATO countries, to help Kyiv in fending off Russian aerial attacks, amid his growing frustration with Putin.
