The European Union is planning a fourteenth round of sanctions against Moscow over Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, a senior EU official said on Friday.
The new sanctions package includes punitive measures against individuals and organizations that support efforts to circumvent existing EU sanctions against Russia, the senior EU official said.
An EU diplomat said the punitive measures should also take into account oil tankers or the “dark fleet” that carry Russian oil, despite existing sanctions hindering this.
New individuals and organizations will face a freeze on their assets in the bloc, according to diplomats. The European Commission will present proposals for the sanctions in the coming week.
The thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia was adopted in February, on the second anniversary of the war against Ukraine, and targeted 106 individuals and 88 organizations.
These included individuals involved in North Korea’s arms supply to Russia and the North Korean Minister of Defense.
Multiple rounds of EU sanctions have been imposed on Russia, targeting different parts of the economy that are contributing to the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.
This extended to import bans on crude oil, coal, steel, gold and luxury goods, as well as punitive measures against banks and other financial institutions.
In addition, trade restrictions were imposed on so-called ‘dual-use goods’ that could contribute to the technological development of Russia’s defense and security sector.
Work continues on a plan to use a large part of the profits from the safekeeping of frozen funds of the Russian central bank in the EU to purchase military equipment for Ukraine.
