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Brussels is proposing a ban on video game equipment sales to Russia to stop the country’s armed forces using them to control drones sent to Ukraine.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said consoles, which could include Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox, would feature in a new round of sanctions aimed to coincide with the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
“We are really looking into all the types of things that help Russia to wage this war to put them on the sanctions list,” Kallas told reporters. “Even the consoles for video games, because apparently these are the ones that they operate drones with.”
Russia has been forced to innovate after western sanctions restricted access to military and electronic parts, turning to suppliers in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and China for sensitive technologies to bolster its arsenal.
The three biggest games console makers — Microsoft of the US and Japanese groups Nintendo and Sony — all halted sales in Russia in early March 2022. An EU ban would be aimed at traders in the bloc who send gaming equipment to Russia, including second-hand sellers.
A ban would cover consoles and gaming controllers, flight simulator controllers, joysticks and other input units capable of remotely operating drones, EU officials said.
Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China is Russia’s top supplier, selling more than $120mn worth of gaming consoles and related appliances to the country last year, according to Trade Data Monitor. The 2024 figure was a sharp increase on just under $30mn in 2022, when Russia’s invasion pushed western companies to cut ties with the market.
“Drone remote controllers are essential for military drone operations and should undoubtedly be banned,” said Olena Bilousova, a military and dual-use goods expert at the Kyiv School of Economics.
But she cautioned that an EU ban might not have “a significant impact, as most operators rely on Chinese-made controllers available on online marketplaces in Russia”.
Kallas said chemicals “needed for the Russian military industry” would also be on the list, as well as restrictions on liquefied natural gas imports. The EU has banned almost all pipeline gas and oil imports in the aftermath of the war but has been buying more Russian LNG as a result, reaching a record high in 2024.
Only about 10 per cent of the EU’s piped gas came from Russia in 2024, according to European Commission figures. Half of those volumes that were shipped via Ukraine have stopped as of January 1, when a transit agreement with Russian state-owned group Gazprom lapsed.
The EU has set a target of weaning itself off all Russian fossil fuels by 2027. It has banned coal imports from Russia and has set a price cap on seaborne oil with international partners.
Several member states from Scandinavia and the Baltic region are pushing for a reduction in the oil price cap. The G7 imposed a $60 ceiling for insurers and traders and any move would need to be co-ordinated with the UK, US, Japan and Canada.
Three diplomats told the Financial Times that the proposed package would also include action to restrict Russian aluminium imports. The EU imported more than 130,000 tonnes of aluminium from Russia, or about 6 per cent of its total imports, in the first 10 months of last year, according to Trade Data Monitor.
It is unclear whether the EU would impose a ban or punitive tariffs that make it unaffordable. Industry groups in the bloc have been campaigning for a ban on the light metal for years.
Sanctions require unanimous approval from the EU’s 27 member states. Existing restrictions came close to being undone when Hungary threatened to veto a routine six-month renewal after Ukraine’s gas transit deal with Russia ended.
Hungary backed down after the commission said it would “continue discussions” with Ukraine over gas supplies to Europe.
The commission on Tuesday also proposed tariffs on certain nitrogen-based fertilisers and agricultural products from Russia and Belarus. If approved by a majority of member states and the European parliament, they would extend EU tariffs to all Russian farm imports.
Some EU countries have previously opposed tariffs on fertilisers because it would raise the cost of growing food.
But the commission said the tariffs would support the growth of domestic production and the EU’s fertiliser industry, which had suffered from high energy costs.
