The European Union’s permanent representatives to the member states approved the 16th sanctions package since the war began in 2022, according to the Financial Times. The tightening of restrictions targets Russia’s aluminum and oil exports.
Despite US President Donald Trump’s push for an end to the conflict, EU states are increasing the pressure on Moscow and supporting Ukraine. The new measures were taken because of concerns that Washington might relax US sanctions against Russia in a deal with Moscow without EU involvement, the newspaper reported.
After the first high-level diplomatic meeting between Russia and the US in Riyadh on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted that EU sanctions against Russia’s economy and defense industry could be a subject of negotiations. “The European Union will have to sit at the table eventually, because it has also imposed sanctions” Rubio said to journalists.
In a statement from the EU’s Foreign Ministry, it was stated that Washington and Moscow would lay the groundwork for future cooperation on issues of mutual geopolitical interest and historical economic and investment opportunities after the conclusion of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
“There are big concerns about how we can maintain the economic pressure on Russia if the US relaxes its sanctions from ours” said an EU official involved in the drafting of the sanctions package, according to the newspaper. The newspaper notes that most Russia sanctions imposed by the West since 2022 were coordinated by the G7 countries to exert maximum pressure on Russia.
According to sources familiar with the 16th sanctions package, the restrictions included a phased ban on Russian aluminum products and additional measures against the sale of crude oil. The sanctions target 73 tankers of the so-called Russian shadow fleet, which Russia uses to circumvent the EU’s oil import ban, the newspaper reported. Additionally, 13 more banks, as well as individuals and companies, were added to the EU’s sanctions list, which, according to the newspaper, contribute to Moscow’s war efforts.
“We continue to support Ukraine and sanction the Russian aggressor because it is the right thing to do, to maintain international rules and order and to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity” said an EU diplomat.