EU ambassadors backed a 16th sanctions package on Russia on Wednesday, just days before the third anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Polish EU presidency announced.
The measures, set for formal adoption by foreign ministers on Monday, target captains and owners of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet — vessels with murky ownership that are often uninsured.
These ships help Moscow evade Western oil-price caps and transport stolen Ukrainian grain. Officials are also concerned that these ships could be used to sabotage telecom cables in the Baltic and North Seas.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the new measures.
“The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans,” von der Leyen wrote on X.
“We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin,” she wrote.
“With tighter measures on circumvention, new import and export bans, and sanctions on Putin’s shadow fleet, we are closing back doors for Russia’s war machine to operate,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on X.
“The Kremlin won’t break our resolve,” she added.
Sanctioned ship are no longer allowed to enter the EU, and assets of ship owners in the bloc can be frozen.
Previously, the EU had already banned almost 80 ships from entering its ports and prohibited companies from offering them services. With the new round of sanctions, 73 more ships are added to the list of sanctioned vessels, an EU diplomat said.
Transactions with 11 ports and airports in Russia that play a role in circumventing the oil-price cap are to be banned.
Next to sanctioning shadow fleet ships, the new sanctions package is to exclude 13 more banks from the SWIFT financial communication system.
In addition, eight Russian media companies are to lose their broadcasting licences in the EU, the diplomat said.
The punitive measures are also to include an extensive ban on the import of Russian aluminium and aluminium alloys and an export ban on devices that can be used to control combat drones, including video game console controllers.
Monday marks the third anniversary of Moscow’s all-out invasion of Ukraine.
