The EU agrees on the fourteenth round of sanctions against Russia
European Union leaders have agreed to impose the fourteenth round of sanctions on Russia, which includes restrictions for the first time on Russian gas, as part of their efforts to pressure Moscow to stop its war on Ukraine.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, declared that these sanctions constitute a strong set of individual and sectoral measures, aimed at undermining Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine.
These measures include targeting the defense-industrial military complex, financial services, the energy sector, combating sanctions circumvention and war crimes.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the tough package aims to reduce Russia’s access to key technologies, limit Moscow’s energy revenues, and address the problem of Putin’s shadow fleet and shadow banking network abroad.
The new round of sanctions prohibits the re-export of Russian liquefied natural gas within EU waters, but stopped short of imposing a complete ban on imports, unlike sanctions imposed in 2022 on Russian seaborne oil.
Some EU countries still import gas from Russia via pipelines that pass-through Ukraine.
The sanctions came a week after Britain announced new sanctions targeting four vessels believed to be part of a shadow fleet used to circumvent Western restrictions imposed since the start of the war in Ukraine.
British sanctions also included measures against key institutions in the Russian financial system and suppliers supporting Russian military production, in line with similar sanctions from Washington against Moscow.
Despite these sanctions, Russia continues to defy Western restrictions.
US economist Steve Hankey pointed out that in May 2024, Russia became the main supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe, surpassing the United States.
Hankey criticized policies that rely on sanctions repeatedly, saying, “Stupidity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results”.
With regard to the financial sector, the Central Bank of Russia announced in a statement, on June 14, 2024, the adoption of a set of measures to ensure the stability of the financial situation and balance in the local currency market, in the face of US and British sanctions.
The bank confirmed that the US dollar and the Euro will continue to trade outside the stock market, and that the Chinese yuan has become the main currency on the Russian stock exchange.
