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Editor's note: The article was expanded with additional reporting.
The EU plans to unveil on May 14 its next package of sanctions imposed against Russia over its aggression against Ukraine, an EU official told the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity.
The European bloc has previously announced 16 separate sanctions packages since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The measures have targeted individuals, companies, and state institutions involved in supporting Russia's war machine in Ukraine.
Details of the 17th package remain unclear, though earlier reporting suggested it could include measures aimed at Russia’s military-industrial complex, Moscow’s shadow shipping fleet, and related support networks.
Russia has been using the shadow fleet to avoid Western sanctions and ship out its oil above the G7-imposed price cap. European countries have also linked the fleet to espionage and sabotage operations.
Talks on the 17th package began shortly after the EU adopted the 16th package on Feb. 24. The last package also targeted Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, financial institutions, entities involved in the Russian military-industrial complex, and more.
The U.K. hit the shadow fleet with its largest sanctions package yet on May 9, targeting 101 vessels.
"What we do on our side is to continue our pressure on Russia, be it with sanctions, be it with our support, be it on military humanitarian throughout all the strengths," European Commission Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Anita Hipper told the Kyiv Independent.
The EU has often faced opposition from some member states, namely Hungary, in implementing certain sanctions, at times forcing the bloc to water down the packages.
Paula Pinho, the chief commission spokesperson, commented that "whenever and when the proposal in the initiative starts with the (European) Commission in terms of sanctions, obviously there are discussions with all the member states to make sure that this can really go through."
"And so such talks take place constantly in terms of... making sure that there is wide support for whenever new sanctions are being proposed," she added in comments for the Kyiv Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland have pledged to impose additional sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin does not accept their proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The Kyiv Independent
