New EU sanctions target Russia's shadow fleet
EU sanctions against Russia target shadow fleet (Getty Images)
The new EU sanctions will hit the Russian oil shadow fleet and almost 70 people, according to Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot and Reuters.
"I welcome today’s agreement on the 14th EU sanctions package against Russia. This package contains several important measures that the Netherlands strongly advocated for, including the firm tackling and sanctioning of the Russian shadow fleet," the diplomat wrote on X.
According to her, through this package of sanctions, the Russian shadow fleet will be deprived of access to European ports and services.
She adds that it is extremely important to continue working on new EU sanctions, as "this will significantly slow down Putin’s war machine."
What else is known about the new EU sanctions
Reuters reports that the sanctions prohibit the re-export of Russian liquefied natural gas in EU waters, but do not restrict imports, as the 2022 block did for Russian offshore oil.
Gas market experts say that this measure will not have a major impact, as gas transshipment through EU ports to Asia accounts for only about 10% of Russia's total LNG exports.
The EU also imposed restrictions on three Russian LNG projects and allowed Sweden and Finland to terminate Russian LNG contracts. In total, 47 new legal entities and 69 individuals were added to the EU sanctions list, bringing the total number to 2,200.
The article says that the EU added tankers to the sanctions list, as well as at least two Russian-owned ships carrying military equipment from North Korea.
What could have been left out of the restrictions
The countries discussed the new measures for more than a month and eventually softened one of the European Commission's proposals aimed at preventing sanctions circumvention at Germany's insistence.
The EU wanted to force subsidiaries of EU companies in third countries to contractually prohibit the re-export of their goods to Russia. The bloc wants to stop the flow of dual-use technologies that Russia could use for military purposes.
The EU diplomat said Germany asked to assess an impact, so the measure could be included later.
14th EU sanctions package
Today, the EU ambassadors agreed on the 14th package of sanctions against Russia.
Later, Bloomberg reported that these measures would affect Russian liquefied natural gas for the first time.
