European Union approves its 18th sanctions package on Russia over Ukraine war

The European Union reached an agreement on an 18th sanctions package against Russia over its war in Ukraine, with a raft of measures aimed at dealing further blows to Russia’s oil and energy industry.

Its latest sanctions package on Russia will lower the G7’s price cap for crude oil to $47.6 per barrel, diplomats told Reuters.

“The EU just approved one of its strongest sanctions package against Russia to date,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on X.

“We will keep raising the costs, so stopping the aggression becomes the only path forward for Moscow,” added Kallas.

The sanctions package also has a ban on transactions related to Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines and on Russia’s financial sector.

“I welcome the agreement on our 18th sanctions package against Russia. We are striking at the heart of Russia’s war machine. Targeting its banking, energy, and military-industrial sectors and including a new dynamic oil price cap,” wrote European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on X.

In adddition, officials said the EU is blacklisting over 100 more more vessels in the “shadow fleet” of ageing tankers used by Russia to circumvent oil export curbs.

There are also measures to stop the defunct Baltic Sea gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 from being brought back online.

Among other targets, sanctions will be placed on a Russian-owned oil refinery in India and two Chinese banks as the EU seeks to curb Moscow’s ties with international partners.

There is also an expanded transaction ban on dealings with Russian banks and more restrictions on the export of “dual-use” goods that could be used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The new sanctions will be formally adopted by EU ministers later on Friday.