As of January, Raiffeisen Capital held around 31.7 billion rubles ($365 million) in sanctioned entities, such as the Sberbank bank or the state-owned energy giant Gazprom, the report said, citing financial documents.
The European Union is bracing for a potential Hungarian veto on extending sanctions against Russia, which are set to expire on March 15, Euractiv reported on March 10, citing sources familiar with the matter.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly ready to lift sanctions on Russia imposed after the start of the full-scale invasion, in a reversal of U.S. policy toward Moscow during its war against Ukraine. The White House is preparing a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief
Hungary is demanding the removal of eight individuals from the EU's Russia sanctions list and guarantees on Ukraine's gas transit talks before agreeing to renew restrictions, Reuters reported on Feb. 25, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The EU paid 21.9 billion euros ($22.9 billion) for Russian fossil fuel imports in the third year of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, exceeding the 18.8 billion euros ($19.6 billion) in financial aid sent to Ukraine that year, according to a new report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air published on Feb. 24.
The new measures, announced on the third anniversary of the all-out war, target Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers, banks, aluminum imports, and other sectors.
"We can adjust accordingly the return to our market of those who want to return," Russian President Vladimir Putin said, suggesting potential restrictions or conditions for Western firms looking to resume operations in Russia.
This would mark the first time that the Russian munitions carrier Maia-1, sanctioned by the U.S. and the EU, entered European waters, the Financial Times noted.
The Belarusian company Agroproduct has been using raw materials from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast to produce rapeseed oil, which it then exported to the European Union.
"Hungary also blocked sanctions against 27 individuals and organizations, including Patriarch Kirill, arguing that targeting religious leaders undermines peace efforts," a Hungarian government spokesperson said.
EU ambassadors agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia, targeting aluminum imports and the "shadow fleet" of oil tankers, Euronews reported on Feb. 19.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is under investigation for undeclared assets in Germany, Spiegel reported on Feb. 8, citing the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor's Office.
According to documents obtained by the FT, Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven sold their stakes for about Rbs 240 billion ($2.5 billion).
The sanctions will also cut off more Russian banks from the SWIFT banking system, and target an additional 70 vessels suspected to be part of Russia’s "shadow-fleet."
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski believes Trump's recent threats of sanctions against Moscow played a role in Hungary's decision to withdraw its veto.
"Fundamental rights and democratic values are core principles of EU integration. Officials that represent a country which trample down these values should not benefit from easier access to the EU," said Tomasz Siemoniak, Poland's interior minister.
"This will continue to deprive Moscow of revenues to finance its war. Russia needs to pay for the damage they are causing," EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
The European Commission plans to begin drafting new sanctions against Russia next week, with the goal of approving the package on Feb. 24 — the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine initiated the meeting to address Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's threats to halt electricity exports to Ukraine and cut support for Ukrainian refugees, Ukraine's envoy to the EU said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union must be banned and replaced with supplies from the United States and other partners.
While the diamond industry markets itself as a beacon of luxury, the complex web of global trade hides dark, brutal reality. Despite sanctions and growing scrutiny, Russian diamonds continue to enter the global market, funding Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
Orban "surprised" his fellow EU leaders by deciding to block the extension during a summit in Brussels on Dec. 19 in what is considered a "routine" step, Bloomberg wrote.
The EU imposed fully fledged sanctions on Dec. 16, including asset freezes and visa bans, on Chinese firms for supplying Russia's military for the war against Ukraine.
The new listings include 54 persons and 30 entities "responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."
EU ambassadors agreed on a 15th package of sanctions against Russia, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU announced on Dec. 11.
The European Union has failed to approve its 15th sanctions package on Russia, which included an extension for Czechia to import Russian oil products through Slovakia, Reuters reported on Dec. 6, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.
The EU's 15th sanctions package will include 30 legal entities from eight countries and 50 individuals, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, said on Nov. 26.
The European Union is preparing to implement additional sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities involved in propping up Russia's war machine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Nov. 15, citing a top EU official.
"We have to strengthen anti-sanctions circumvention measures because Russia cannot produce (weaponry) without imported parts, chips and other components," the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a news conference in Kyiv. "We should use sanctions to isolate Russia's industrial capabilities from imports from other countries."
The last time Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited an EU country was in 2021, when he traveled to the OSCE meeting in Stockholm, Sweden
The source told the Kyiv Independent the drones targeted the large state-owned Sverdlov Plant in the city of Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 900 kilometers deep into Russia.
Key findings: * International sanctions lists contain mistakes in key identifying data of Sergey Korolev, deputy head of Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). * The European Union and Swiss sanctions list the incorrect date of birth of Korolev. Almost all other sanctions lists don’t include the most likely spelling of his
