EU ambassadors reach agreement on the 21st package of sanctions against Russia

After weeks of negotiations, this morning the EU ambassadors reached agreement on the 21st package of sanctions on Russia and the freezing for 12 months of the oil price cap on Russian crude oil.

An agreement that struggled to take shape due to national vetoes that weakened the Commission’s initial proposal and which saw some chapters such as the importation of cod from Moscow and the sanctions on Patriarch Kirill fall onto the negotiating table. In recent days, the adoption was prevented by Greece’s veto on the measure imposing a ban on the transport of Russian LNG to third countries. A chapter that according to Athens would have had repercussions on European companies, as Greece is one of the major maritime hubs in the Mediterranean, favoring Asian and Chinese companies. The resistance, reports an EU source, has been overcome with a “compromise” that introduces a limited exemption for contracts concluded before 24 February 2022, allowing the transfer of LNG to third countries – and related purchases – exclusively under these pre-existing agreements. The expansion of these operations by EU operators will be strictly limited, while the Council will be able to review the scope of the exemption annually.

An EU diplomat reports that although the negotiations were “challenging”, an agreement was reached “while maintaining unity”, as has already happened in the previous 20 packages. Member States have been clear and united in calling for strong measures to further limit Russia’s ability to continue its war of aggression against Ukraine by targeting key sectors, including broad restrictions and transaction bans against the Russian financial sector, new measures against cryptocurrencies and against the shadow fleet. Furthermore, the source continues, the package contains more individual sanctions than any other package in the last four years.

The comments of EU leaders who have been waiting for this news for days give some more details on the content of this new package of sanctions. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, welcoming the agreement in a post on social media, revealed that 32 Russian banks will be affected and “for the first time, we are targeting ships assisting Russia’s shadow fleet and have taken an important step towards formally banning Russian fighters from entering the EU”.

Applause also from the President of the European Council Antonio Costa who also comments on social media: “let’s increase the pressure on Russia” with a package of sanctions that “targets the sectors with the highest impact: energy, financial services, cryptocurrencies and trade”.