Iran Energy News Oil, Gas, Petrochemical and Energy Field Specialized Channel
Related Articles
As U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for talks with Russia for an end to the war in Ukraine, the EU on Wednesday agreed on a new package of sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on Russian aluminum imports and the designation of 73 shadow fleet vessels.
A day after senior U.S. and Russian diplomats met in Saudi Arabia to begin talks about the potential end to the war in Ukraine, the envoys of the 27 EU member states agreed on the 16th sanctions package against Russia, aiming to show resolve in the EU efforts to deny Putin more revenues from energy and metals exports.
“There’s deep concern about how we [the EU] can keep up economic pressure on Russia if the US delinks its sanctions from ours,” an EU official involved in the latest sanctions package told the Financial Times.
Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, has told European diplomats in recent days that he is okay with the EU expanding and keeping the sanctions pressure during the U.S.-Russia talks, two EU officials told FT.
In the 16th package, deliberately targeted to be officially adopted around the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, February 24, the EU is banning primary aluminum imports from Russia, with the ban phased in one year after the package adoption.
The EU also expands the scope of the criteria to use to sanction vessel owners and operators of the Russian shadow tanker fleet, including captains.
“The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday on X.
“We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin,” the top EU official added.
The new EU sanctions come as the bloc and Ukraine are scrambling to be included in the discussions about the future of Ukraine as U.S. and Russia this week launched talks on a potential ceasefire in Ukraine and U.S.-Russia economic rapprochement, in a dramatic shift in the U.S. policy toward Putin.
