EU targets Russian LNG, banks, crypto and 'shadow fleet' in new round of sanctions

Published on 19/09/2025 - 14:15 GMT+2

The European Commission has unveiled a caller circular of sanctions to cripple Russia's quality to wage warfare connected Ukraine and bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

The proposal, presented connected Friday by President Ursula von der Leyen, targets banks, 118 vessels from the "shadow fleet" and, for the archetypal time, the cryptocurrency platforms that Moscow uses to launder transactions successful the planetary fiscal market.

If approved by subordinate states, it volition people the 19th bundle of sanctions since February 2022. Discussions among ambassadors are already underway.

"Our economical investigation is clear: our sanctions are severely affecting the Russian economy," von der Leyen said successful a video message.

"Russia's overheated system is coming to its limit."

Most notably, the program foresees an accelerated phase-out of EU imports of Russian fossil fuels, which past twelvemonth amounted to an estimated €21.9 billion.

In the spring, Brussels had acceptable distant an ambitious roadmap to destruct each these purchases by the extremity of 2027 astatine the latest.

But successful caller weeks, US President Donald Trump has publically called connected Europeans to instantly chopped disconnected vigor ties with Moscow arsenic a information for him to enforce "major sanctions" connected Russia, a important measurement helium has truthful acold refused to take.

"The acquisition of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, implicit Russia," Trump said connected Saturday successful what helium called an unfastened missive to "all NATO nations and the world".

"Anyway, I americium acceptable to 'go' erstwhile you are. Just accidental when?"

Days later, Trump doubled down connected his connection during a authorities sojourn to the UK.

"I'm consenting to bash different things, but not erstwhile the radical that I'm warring for are buying lipid from Russia," Trump said.

In response, the Commission has projected to extremity each purchases of Russian liquefied earthy state (LNG) 1 twelvemonth earlier, by 1 January 2027, and people refineries, lipid traders and petrochemical companies that bargain Russian lipid successful breach of Western sanctions.

"Russia's warfare system is sustained by revenues from fossil fuels. We privation to chopped these revenues," von der Leyen said.

"It is clip to crook disconnected the tap."

Von der Leyen did not code the ineligible exemption that allows Hungary and Slovakia to proceed purchases of Russian crude done the Druzhba pipeline, however. The carve-out has been successful spot since mid-2022 and has ne'er been revisited.

Hungary and Slovakia, 2 vocal critics of sanctions, person positioned themselves arsenic Trump allies, but the caller demands from the American president person forced them to admit their dependency connected Moscow.