The European Union failed to pass the new 20th sanctions package against Russia on Monday, leaving proposals for a full ban on maritime services for Russian crude oil unapproved.
A new package of European Union sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the 20th such set of measures, was stalled Monday after being blocked by some member states. The EU’s 20th package of sanctions is to include a ban on maritime services related to exports of Russian crude oil.
Many EU leaders had hoped to move forward on the 20th package of sanctions targeting Russia’s shadow fleet and energy revenues before the anniversary day of the war.
The EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Kaja Kallas said after the meeting that no agreement had been reached and that work on the package would continue.
Some member states had been unable to agree on a new round of sanctions that would have effectively ended EU involvement in Russian crude shipments and scrapped a price cap system.
“We are of course, doing our utmost to have this sanctions package, to push this through. And I have talked to the Member States who are also going to raise this and convince the countries who are blocking. And we are also looking at ways how we can do it,” Kaja Kallas told reporters after the meeting.
The financial services, trade and energy sanctions package drawn up by the European Commission would bring in a full maritime services ban for Russian crude oil, reducing its income from energy and making it more difficult to find customers.
The EU proposes to replace the Russian oil price cap with a full maritime services ban for Russian crude oil. In practice, under such a transport ban, a European coalition of countries would ban any tanker carrying Russian oil from entering European ports and using European services, either permanently or at least for as long as the ban is in place.
The European Union’s new sanctions would replace – if and when adopted – a price cap on Russian oil with a full ban on maritime services.
This would mean that European firms could no longer provide insurance, shipping, or transport services for Russian oil cargoes at any price.
“It is never easy, but the work continues. I really regret that we did not achieve an agreement today, considering that tomorrow is the sad anniversary of the start of this war, and we really need to send strong signals to Ukraine, that we keep on helping Ukraine, but also putting more pressure on Russia so that this war would stop,” Kallas told journalists in a press conference on Monday.
