Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) and President of the European Council Antonio Costa answer questions from the media as they arrive for the Euro Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday. Photo by Matthys Olivier/EPA
The European Union on Thursday formally adopted sweeping sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, a day after the United States announced punitive measures against the Kremlin’s oil industry.
Russian energy products have long been accused of funding Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Western nations are seeking to cut off that energy source as the Trump administration continues to push to bring an end to the nearly four-year-old war.
The sanctions package, the 19th from the EU, was first proposed on Sept. 19 and needed all 27 members to to be adopted.
It includes a full prohibition on Russian liquefied gas imports by January 2027, and lifts remaining exemptions on Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, Russia’s two largest oil companies.
It also expands sanctions imposed against Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers and enablers. A ban on Russian banks and financial institutions, including those in third countries; economic operators involved in the circumvention of sanctions, revenue generation for Russia’s military industry and the Russian credit card system and fast payment systems are also included.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, announced the package had been adopted on X.
“It targets Russian banks, crypto exchanges, entities in India and China, among others. The EU is curbing Russian diplomats’ movements to counter the attempts of destabilization,” she said.
“It is increasingly harder for Putin to fund this war.”
The adoption comes on the heels of the United States imposing its own sweeping sanctions against Russia to apply more pressure on the Kremlin to end its war.
Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and Ukraine has been defending itself since.
In response, Western nations have made Russia the most heavily sanctioned country in the world, in terms of scope and sheer number of punitive measures.
“We are keeping up the pressure on Russia,” EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in a statement Thursday.
“We must ensure that the sanctions’ impact is maximum, and that all loopholes are closed. This is not about supporting Ukraine it is about our collective security.”
Denmark’s foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, added in a statement that with the new U.S. sanctions, “this will have severe impact on Russian economy.”
The sanctions were announced hours before the European Council, the collegiate body of the EU, was to meet for a summit involving Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The topic of discussion will be supporting Ukraine’s defense through financial support as well as looking at options to do so with Russian assets frozen by the international community in response to the war.
