European Commission president presents 20th package of sanctions against Russia

This was announced in a statement by the head of the European Commission, Ukrinform reports.

“As important peace talks are underway in Abu Dhabi, we must be clear-eyed: Russia will only come to the table with genuine intent if it is pressured to do so. This is the only language Russia understands. That is why we are stepping up today. The Commission is putting forward a new package of sanctions - the 20th since the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine,” von der Leyen emphasized.

According to her, the European Commission proposes a complete ban on the maritime transport of Russian crude oil.

“It will slash further Russia's energy revenues and make it more difficult to find buyers for its oil. As shipping is a global business, we propose to enact this full ban in coordination with like-minded partners after a decision of the G7,” she said.

The European Commission also plans to add 43 more ships belonging to the shadow fleet to the sanctions list.

“We are listing 43 more vessels part of the shadow fleet – reaching 640 in total. We also make it more difficult for Russia to acquire tankers to be used for the shadow fleet and add sweeping bans on the provision of maintenance and other services for LNG tankers and icebreakers to further dent gas export projects,” von der Leyen mentioned.

In addition, the European Commission presented a second set of measures to further restrict Russia's banking system and its ability to create alternative payment channels to finance economic activity.

“We are listing 20 more Russian regional banks, and we will take measures against cryptocurrencies, companies trading them, and platforms enabling crypto trade, to close an avenue for circumvention. We are also targeting several banks in third countries involved in facilitating illegal trade in sanctioned goods,” said the European Commission president.

It also proposes imposing sanctions on several banks in third countries that facilitate the illegal trade in sanctioned goods.

According to von der Leyen, the third set of measures will see the European Commission tighten export restrictions on Russia with new bans on goods and services, including rubber, tractors, and cybersecurity services, worth more than €360 million.

“We also introduce new import bans on metals, chemicals, and critical minerals, not yet under sanctions, worth over €570 million. And we introduce further export restrictions on items and technologies used for Russia's battlefield effort, such as materials used to produce explosives. We propose a quota on ammonia to cap existing imports,” she stated.

She said that the European Commission is activating an instrument to combat sanctions circumvention for the first time, banning the export of any machine tools and radio stations to jurisdictions with a high risk of re-exporting them to Russia.

“Finally, we propose stronger legal safeguards for EU companies to protect them from violations of their IP rights or from unfair expropriation in Russia due to abusive court rulings in connection with sanctions,” von der Leyen stressed.

The president of the European Commission called on EU countries to quickly approve the 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

“Doing so would send a powerful signal ahead of the grim 4th anniversary of this war: our commitment to a free and sovereign Ukraine is unwavering. And if anything, it grows stronger day by day, month by month, year by year,” von der Leyen concluded.

As reported by Ukrinform, last October, the European Union approved the 19th package of sanctions against Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Archive photo: European Union