EU greenlights 19th Russia sanctions package

The EU formally approved a fresh round of sanctions on Russia on Thursday, after Slovakia dropped its veto last night following weeks of blocking the measures, and just hours after the US sanctioned two large Russian oil firms.

The package – the 19th since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – will see the 27 EU countries phase out their purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by January 2027.

It also targets Russia’s financial sector, Chinese and Indian companies accused of sanctions circumvention, as well as 117 oil tankers in Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, which the Kremlin uses to evade a Western oil price cap.

“Today is a good day for Europe and Ukraine,” said Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

He added that the phase-out of LNG is “an important step towards a complete phasing out of Russian energy in the EU”.

The announcement came after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico lifted his veto on the package late on Wednesday, which followed EU leaders agreeing to include references to high energy prices and Europe’s automotive sector in the European Council conclusions.

The pro-Moscow strongman said last week that he was “astonished” that Kyiv’s war effort is “being treated as the top priority topic” at Thursday’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels, instead of high energy prices and the “crisis” in Europe’s car industry.

Sanctions must be approved unanimously by EU countries, and rolled over every six months.

The EU agreement came just hours after Washington’s decision to impose sanctions against two large Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil – an expression of Washington’s disappointment at the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations with Moscow.

US President Donald Trump had previously held off on new sanctions for months, saying he hoped to persuade Russian President Putin to make peace despite growing frustration with the Kremlin leader.

“President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we’d hoped,” Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox Business on Thursday.

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