Today, Friday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Commission is proposing a new package of sanctions against Russia. The European Commission (EC) proposed on Friday the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, focused on energy, financial services, and trade, with the aim of it taking effect four years after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022. One of the main measures of this round is the total ban on maritime services for Russian oil, to further reduce Russia's energy revenues and make it harder to find buyers for its oil, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reported in a press release, adding that the initiative will be coordinated 'with allied partners following a G7 decision'. The proposal, which must then be discussed and approved unanimously by the Twenty-seven to be applied, also includes blacklisting another 43 vessels of Russia's so-called 'ghost fleet' that helps Moscow evade its oil sanctions, bringing the total to 640. Von der Leyen specified that they also aim to make it harder for Russia to acquire tankers with general bans on providing maintenance and other services for liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers and icebreakers, in order to 'further damage Russia's gas export projects'. She assured that this will complement the European ban on LNG imports agreed in a previous sanctions package and the RepowerEU regulation. In the financial sphere, the Commission proposes measures to further restrict the Russian banking system and its ability to create alternative payment channels to finance economic activity, something that Von der Leyen considered 'the weak point of Russia'. Specifically, it proposes blacklisting another 20 Russian regional banks and taking measures against cryptocurrencies, the companies that market them, and the platforms that allow their trading, in order to close a sanctions evasion channel. Similarly, sanctions are included against banks in third countries that facilitate the illegal trade of sanctioned products. Finally, the Commission calls for tightening export restrictions to Russia with new bans on goods and services, from rubber to tractors and cybersecurity services, worth over 360 million euros. In addition, Brussels also proposes introducing new import bans on metals, chemicals, and critical raw materials that are not yet subject to sanctions, worth over 570 million euros. And more restrictions on the export of items and technologies used by Russia on the battlefield, such as materials used to make explosives, as well as a quota for ammonia to limit existing imports. The EC also wants to put an end to sanctions evasion by activating the 'anti-circumvention tool' for the first time, prohibiting the export of any computer numerical control machines and radios to jurisdictions where there is a high risk of these products being re-exported to Russia. Finally, to protect EU companies from violations of their intellectual property rights or unjust expropriation in Russia due to abusive court rulings, the Commission proposes stronger legal guarantees.
