Ambassadors from the EU's 27 Member States voted in favour of a "powerful" 14th package of sanctions against Russia, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU announced on Thursday.
The "substantial" sanctions package – a response to Russia's continued aggression toward Ukraine – aims to maximise the impact of existing sanctions by addressing current loopholes, the Presidency explained in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
🇪🇺 EU Ambassadors just agreed on a powerful and substantial 14th package of sanctions in reaction to the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
This package provides new targeted measures and maximises the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes. — Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 (@EU2024BE) June 20, 2024
The EU imposed sanctions against Russia in 2014 as an initial response to the illegal annexation of Crimea. Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has expanded its restrictive measures to weaken Russia's revenue sources and reduce its access to critical technologies.
The new sanctions mainly target supplies of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), which multiple countries continue to import. Belgium is a significant entry point for Russian LNG in Europe. Further restrictions on the export of dual-goods and technologies which could benefit Russia have also been approved. In addition, stricter measures have been proposed to punish companies which violate the sanctions.
The 14th set of sanctions has been under discussion for months. Some hesitation had recently been shown by Germany, but a final compromise was presented by the Belgian Presidency and European Commission to representatives on Wednesday.
European foreign ministers are expected to formally adopt the sanctions on Monday. Following this, all measures will be detailed in the EU's Official Journal.
