On Wednesday 19 February, Member States’ ambassadors to the EU approved the 16th package of sanctions against Russia. It is expected to be officially approved by the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 24 February. 24 February is also the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in (Vladimir) Putin’s shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans. We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin”, stressed the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on X, welcoming the agreement. The EU’s High Representative, Kaja Kallas, also said on X that, with these new measures, the EU was “closing backdoors for Russia’s war machine to operate”. “The Kremlin won’t break our resolve”, she warned.
Among other things, the Member States have decided to disconnect 13 banks from the Swift system and ban transactions by three financial institutions. In addition, 73 ships from the ‘shadow fleet’ will be sanctioned, and 11 Russian ports and airports that circumvent the oil price cap and other sanctions will be banned from trading.
In addition, eight Russian media outlets will also have their EU broadcasting licences suspended. The sale of video game consoles, joysticks and flight simulators are also expected to be restricted, as they could be used for Russian army drones.
Exports of chromium are also banned, as are imports of primary aluminium, with a phasing-in period of one year. Service operations for oil and gas refineries are also banned.
The package also broadens the criteria that the EU will be able to use to penalise owners and operators of ‘shadow fleets’, including captains, and those who provide support to the military industry. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)