EU reaches agreement on 21st sanctions package targeting Russian energy and finance sectors
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
EU leaders approved a new sanctions round on Russia, keeping a $44 per barrel oil price cap for a year and adding banks, crypto firms and vessels to the blacklist.
EU ministers concluded a 21st sanctions package aimed at Russia's energy, financial services, cryptocurrency and trade sectors after weeks of negotiations. The agreement maintains the existing $44 (\u20ac39) per barrel price cap on Russian crude for the next 12 months and grants a one-year exemption for the transfer of Russian liquefied natural gas to third countries, with an automatic renewal clause.
"Our 21st sanctions package targets the sectors with the highest impact: energy, financial services, crypto, and trade," European Council president Antonio Costa wrote online.
The package expands the EU's transaction ban list to include 32 Russian banks, crypto firms and oil-trading platforms, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It also imposes entry bans and asset freezes on individuals and entities linked to the war in Ukraine.
"The Russian war machine does not benefit from market shocks," von der Leyen said, welcoming the deal that prevents automatic adjustments to the oil price cap.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the measures as the bloc's largest in four years, targeting 218 individuals and entities, more than 100 banks and cryptocurrency operators, over 40 vessels from Russia's shadow fleet, several oil refineries and more than 50 military-industrial firms involved in long-range drone production.