Brussels, 27 June 2024(TDI): The European Union has adopted the 14th Package of sanctions on Russia, aimed at further curbing the Russian State’s revenue. Russia’s capacity to wage war particularly hit the export of LNG for the first time, EU foreign ministers said on Monday.
Western powers have been intensifying the range of sanctions on Russia after launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb 2022.
The main objective of the 14th Package of sanctions is to limit Russia’s revenue generated from LNG. This includes banning the transportation of LNG from EU ports, cancelling LNG contracts of some countries with Russia, prohibiting the use of EU ports for the transhipment of Russian LNG, and restricting the import of Russian LNG into specific terminals that are not connected with the EU gas pipeline network.
“This package provides new targeted measures and maximizes the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes,” the Belgian EU presidency said about the agreement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “This hard-hitting Package will further deny Russia access to key technologies. It will strip Russia of further energy revenues and tackle Putin’s shadow fleet and shadow banking network abroad.”
The United States Spokesperson Matthew Miller noted “The United States welcomes the EU’s 14th sanction package, which will raise costs on Moscow for its aggression. We also welcome EU sanctions on cyber actors for malicious activities against critical infrastructure in the EU and Ukraine.”
The Package was enforced within 9 months of the transition period and prohibited any new investment and services from completing LNG under-construction projects in Russia, according to a statement revealed by the EU Commission.
However, many experts said that the sanctions may hit European countries themselves because only 10% of Russia’s total gas is exported to Asia via the ports of the EU while the rest is used by European countries themselves.
List of sanctions
In a separate move, the European Union has announced the ban on six individuals from Russia who were involved in “malicious cyber activities’ in European countries and Ukraine, and they have been directly linked with Russian intelligence, according to the commission.
In a further move to hit Russia’s revenue, the 14th Package of sanctions has proposed banning European Union banks outside Russia from using Moscow’s SPFS system, which is equivalent to SIFT.
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Last but not least, the Package cracked down on the so-called Shadow Fleet, which contributed to Russia’s warfare from EU ports. The EU ministers’ statement said vessels could be designated for instances including the “transport of military equipment for Russia, the transport of stolen Ukrainian grain and the transport of LNG components or trans-shipments of LNG.”
