EU Adopts 20th Sanctions Package Against Russia

The European Union on Thursday adopted its 20th package of sanctions against Russia, adding new restrictions on energy, finance, trade, shipping and media as Brussels seeks to tighten pressure on Moscow over the war in Ukraine and close off routes used to evade earlier measures.

The European Commission said the package was designed to hit Russia’s oil revenues, limit access to financial services and make it harder for companies and intermediaries in third countries to help sanctioned goods reach Russia. It also activated, for the first time, the bloc’s anti-circumvention tool, a step officials said was aimed at stopping repeated violations tied to exports from the European Union that end up in Russia.

The new measures expand the list of Russian energy companies and related entities targeted by the bloc. They also add more vessels to the EU’s shadow fleet sanctions list, bringing the total to 632 ships. Those vessels are now subject to port access bans and service restrictions. The package also includes two Russian ports, Murmansk and Tuapse, and for the first time a third-country port, Karimun Oil Terminal in Indonesia, because of links to oil sanctions evasion.

Brussels also introduced safeguards on tanker sales from the EU to prevent Russian end use. European sellers will have to carry out due diligence and include a mandatory “no Russia” clause in contracts. The package adds a new clause intended to speed up scrapping or recycling of vessels that leave the shadow fleet.

The Commission said the Council would later decide when a future maritime services ban on Russian crude oil and petroleum products would take effect. That measure is being coordinated with the Group of 7 and countries taking part in the price cap coalition. The package also bans maintenance services for Russian liquefied natural gas tankers and icebreakers and allows EU operators to end long-term contracts with Russian LNG terminal operators.

On finance, the EU extended its ban on doing business with 20 additional Russian banks, bringing the total number excluded from access to the EU internal market to 70. It also widened transaction bans to four banks in Kyrgyzstan, Laos and Azerbaijan that Brussels says have helped Russia evade sanctions or connect to its financial messaging system.

The package imposes a sector-wide ban on exchanges with Russian crypto asset service providers and decentralized platforms used for crypto trading. It also prohibits support for RUBx, a rouble-backed stablecoin, and for the digital rouble now under development by Russia’s central bank. In addition, it targets agents in Russia and other countries that facilitate international payments meant to bypass EU sanctions.

Trade restrictions were also broadened. The Commission said the bloc would ban exports of goods worth more than €365 million, including rubber and tractors, and restrict items used in Russia’s military effort such as explosives, laboratory glassware and high-performance lubricants. Imports of metals, chemicals and minerals worth more than €530 million will also be banned, while ammonia imports will face a quota.

The EU added 58 companies and associated individuals linked to Russia’s military-industrial complex, including drone producers and suppliers of dual-use goods from China, Hong Kong, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Belarus. Another 60 entities were added for direct or indirect support of Russia’s war effort or for sanctions circumvention.

The package includes 120 additional listings overall: 33 individuals and 83 entities. Those listed face asset freezes, while individuals are also subject to travel bans. Among them are oligarchs, people accused by the EU of involvement in the abduction of children from Ukraine, propagandists and figures tied to looting cultural heritage.

The Commission said it was also strengthening legal protections for European companies facing retaliatory lawsuits in Russia. Under the new rules, courts in member states may fine Russians who bring abusive cases before Russian courts. EU firms may also seek damages if abusive judgments are enforced in third countries outside Russia.

The measures further target propaganda by banning mirror websites that copy content from outlets already under EU restrictions such as RT and Sputnik. Brussels said those sites would be blocked from distribution inside the bloc. The package also bars research institutions and universities in the EU from accepting funding from the Russian government for research and innovation projects.

Maria Luís Albuquerque, the commissioner for financial services and the savings and investments union, said the package would further constrain Russia’s ability to finance what she called its illegal war in Ukraine. She said Brussels was targeting financial actors and infrastructure in third countries that help circumvent sanctions.

The Commission said similar provisions were also extended to Belarus under its own sanctions regime.