EU Approves New Sanctions Against Russia

EU diplomats have imposed a fresh round of sanctions against Russia, as Brussels vows to ramp up pressure on Moscow despite US-led negotiations aimed at ending the Ukraine war.

The bloc’s 16th package of sanctions will target Russia’s aluminian industry, oil exports and individuals and companies deemed to be fuelling Russia’s war against Ukraine.

They will hit 13 more banks and 73 more “shadow fleet tankers” used by Moscow to export crude oil. A “phased-in” ban on EU countries buying certain types of Russian aluminium products will also be brought in, according to officials briefed on the package.

The package is set to be formally approved by EU foreign ministers on Monday, on the third anniversary of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It comes after Donald Trump appeared to place some blame for the war on Ukraine, saying that a “half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without the loss of much land, very little land, without the loss of any lives, and without the loss of cities that are just laying on their sides”.