


The European Union and the United Kingdom announced new sanctions targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet” after a friendly call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The 17th set of European sanctions imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, was an apparent message after another seemingly friendly call between the United States and Russia after three years of open animus during the Biden administration. While unlikely to deal a critical blow, like the previous 16 rounds of sanctions, the new sanctions target the lifeline of Russia’s economy, which has played a central role in keeping it afloat despite the historic number of sanctions.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the new round of sanctions in a post on X, adding that an 18th round is being prepared.
Von der Leyen said she spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and that they are “coordinating closely on the next steps. Europe has just adopted its 17th package of hard-biting sanctions. An 18th package is being prepared with further hard hitting sanctions. It’s time to intensify the pressure on Russia to bring about the ceasefire.”
In a post thanking von der Leyen for the new sanctions, Zelensky hinted that the 18th sanctions package would target “Russian oil, energy trade infrastructure, banks, and financial schemes.”
Despite 16 rounds of sanctions being previously implemented, Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign relations head, said the new round of sanctions is the hardest-hitting yet.
“This round of sanctions on Russia is the most wide-sweeping since the start of the war, together with new hybrid, human rights, and chemical weapons-related sanctions,” she said. “While Putin feigns interest in peace, more sanctions are in the works.”
The new sanctions package doubled the number of sanctioned vessels in Russia’s “shadow fleet,” bringing the total to 342.
Oil wasn’t the only sector targeted in the new sanctions — over 45 Russian countries and individuals providing the Russian military with “drones, weapons, ammunition, military equipment, critical components and logistical support” were also hit. “Industrial enablers, such as Russian and Chinese entities supplying machine tools to the Russian military and industrial sector,” were also hit.
Three Chinese, one Belarusian, and one Israeli entity that allegedly supply “critical components to the Russian military, including for drone production,” were also targeted in the new sanctions package.
The U.K.’s Foreign Ministry announced a new round of sanctions, 100 in total, in tandem with the EU, including ones targeting “entities supporting Russia’s military machine, energy exports, and information war, as well as financial institutions” supporting the war effort.
Part of these sanctions target the supply chain of Russia’s Iskander ballistic missiles, one of the most effective weapons in Moscow’s arsenal due to Ukraine’s inability to intercept specific variants of them. An Iskander strike against a Ukrainian military base in Sumy on Tuesday killed possibly dozens of Ukrainian troops.
Russia launched its largest drone attack of the war on Sunday, with 273 drones hitting Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk oblasts ahead of Putin’s call with Trump. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy used the strikes as a reason for the new round of sanctions.
“Putin’s latest strikes once again show his true colours as a warmonger,” he said in a statement. “We urge him to agree to a full, unconditional ceasefire right away so there can be talks on a just and lasting peace. We have been clear that delaying peace efforts will only redouble our resolve to help Ukraine defend itself and use our sanctions to restrict Putin’s war machine.”
Another drone attack on Wednesday injured residents in Kharkiv, Sumy, and Kyiv oblasts.
Zelensky thanked U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer in a Wednesday post on X and expressed hope that the U.S. would issue further sanctions as well.
“I thanked him for the new British sanctions, which help pressure Russia toward peace. Only coercion will work. Today we have a sanctions decision from the UK, as well as from the EU, and it would be good if the United States also helped. Our European partners are already preparing the next steps in this critically important canvas of pressure on Russia to stop the war,” he said.
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The new round of sanctions is notable for being the polar opposite of the approach favored by the Trump administration. At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump believes any further sanctions would jeopardize peace efforts.
Rubio said Trump “believes that right now, you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking, and there’s value in us being able to talk and drive them to get to the table.”