By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – The European Union on Thursday has implemented its 19th sanctions package against Russia by tightening economic restrictions on key sectors of energy, finance, and defence, while expanded punitive measures to entities in China, India, and other third world countries accused of helping Moscow circumvent previous sanctions.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced the measures, said the new package “makes it increasingly difficult for Putin to finance his war” and pledged that “the 19th package will not be the last.”
The package comes in response to Russia’s renewed assault on Ukraine’s energy, water, and health infrastructure, which Brussels condemned as deliberate attacks on civilians.
“We just adopted our 19th sanctions package. It targets Russian banks, crypto exchanges, entities in India and China, among others”, EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
Media reports stated that under the new measures, the EU introduced a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, to take effect in two phases within six months for short-term contracts and from January 2027 for long-term contracts.
The bloc also tightened existing restrictions on state-owned oil giants Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, while blacklisting several entities accused of enabling Russia’s “shadow fleet” operations.
Litasco Middle East DMCC, a Dubai-based affiliate of Lukoil, as well as maritime registries providing false flags to vessels transporting sanctioned oil and military equipment were listed.
EU added 117 more vessels to its port access ban, bringing the total number of restricted ships to 557, and extended prohibitions to the reinsurance of shadow fleet vessels. The measures aim to further disrupt Moscow’s ability to profit from oil exports that continue to fund its war in Ukraine.
In the financial sector, the EU imposed transaction bans on five Russian banks—including Alfa-Bank, MTS Bank, Istina, Zemsky Bank, and Absolut Bank—as well as eight financial institutions from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, the UAE, and Hong Kong accused of facilitating sanctions evasion.
The package also targets Russia’s increasing use of crypto currency to bypass restrictions. Transactions involving the state-backed A7A5 stable coin have been banned, alongside sanctions on its developers and trading platforms.
The EU operators are prohibited from engaging with Russia’s Mir payment card system and its Fast Payments System.
Restrictions were also imposed on businesses operating in nine Russian special economic zones central to its industrial and military capacity.
The EU listed 45 additional entities directly supporting Russia’s war machine, including 12 companies in China, three in India, and two in Thailand, accused of enabling the transfer of sensitive technologies such as microelectronics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and CNC machine tools.
Export bans were expanded to include a wider range of chemicals, metals, rubber goods, and electronic components critical to Russia’s arms production, EU stated in a press release.
The EU tightened restrictions on Russian diplomats, required advance notification before travelling within the Schengen area, in response to concerns over espionage and destabilization activities beyond economic sanctions.
The bloc also sanctioned individuals linked to the forced abduction and indoctrination of Ukrainian children, expanding accountability measures for those responsible.
The sanctions were applied to Belarus for continuing to support Russia’s military operations, with tighter controls on trade and financial transactions.
The European Council said the new measures add 69 individual listings and expand economic restrictions across multiple sectors.
“Every euro we deny Russia is one it cannot spend on war,” Kallas said, reaffirmed trhe EU’s resolve to sustain pressure until Moscow ends its aggression against Ukraine.
