Skip to main content

EU commission proposes further sanctions on Russian oil trade and financial services

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm proposed further sanctions against Russia on Friday over the Ukraine war, including a ban on shipping services that help Moscow’s oil industry and measures targeting the country’s financial services and trade sectors.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that despite ongoing talks to end the war, “we must be clear-eyed: Russia will only come to the table with genuine intent if it is pressured to do so.”

The shipping services ban, which would need to be endorsed by EU member states, would “slash further Russia’s energy revenues and make it more difficult to find buyers for its oil,” she said.

Oil revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing President Vladimir Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.

Von der Leyen said the EU should impose the ban in coordination with the Group of Seven major world powers and other international partners. She said that dozens more ships working in Russia’s shadow fleet transporting oil should also be targeted.

The EU’s 27 national envoys will start to discuss the proposals on Monday. The bloc has already imposed 19 packages of sanctions on Russia over its attacks on Ukraine, but getting final agreement on who and what to target can take weeks.

The aim is to have the new measures endorsed by the EU member countries by Feb. 23, the eve of the war’s fourth anniversary.

Von der Leyen said other proposals aim to restrict Russia’s banking system and its ability to create alternative payment channels to fund its economy. “This is Russia’s weak point, and we are pressing hard on it,” she said.

Other measures would include new bans on goods and services, including rubber, tractors and cybersecurity services. An import ban would be slapped on metals, chemicals and critical minerals that are not already under sanctions.

Ukraine’s drone strikes set a gloomy tone for Putin’s economic showcase

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A massive black cloud rising above the St. Petersburg skyline from a Ukrainian drone strike set a gloomy tone for the opening of President Vladimir Putin's annual showcase of Russia's economic achievements. With Putin set to arrive Thursday in his hometown that is hosting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Ukrainian attack a day earlier that set an oil terminal ablaze was another embarrassing blow to his efforts to minimize the impact of the 4-year-old conflict and cast it as a distant event with no effect on Russian daily life. The attack, which also targeted a naval base near Russia's second-largest city on the Gulf of Finland, underlined Ukraine’s growing capability to hit deep inside its neighbor and demonstrated that even the heavily protected city where Putin was born is increasingly vulnerable. Scores of flights were delayed or diverted at St. Petersburg’s airport and authorities cut cellphone internet service to try to prevent drone attacks.
Read Next Story