Ukraine placed sanctions on Russia’s Lukoil, blocking the company from transiting oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia. This move heightened tensions as Hungary accused Ukraine of endangering its energy independence.
Russian oligarchs Gennady Timchenko and Mikhail Fridman and Russia's National Settlement Depository on Sept. 11 lost their appeal against EU sanctions imposed against them.
Hungary, which has repeatedly opposed sanctions on Russia and undermined Western aid efforts for Ukraine, once again reportedly demanded that several people be removed from the sanctions list in exchange for their support.
An explosion reported at an Avangard plant in Bashkortostan, Russia, killed three people, RFE/RL reported on Aug. 5. The plant belongs to Rostec, the Russian state-owned arms manufacturer.
The announcement came a few days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election when dictator Alexander Lukashenko cemented his hold on power through electoral fraud and mass repressions.
Switzerland announced new sanctions against Russia on July 8, bringing the country further in line with the EU's 14th round of sanctions adopted in response to the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The EU Council also prohibited the direct or indirect imports, purchasing, or transferring of gold and diamonds from Belarus, as well as helium, coal, and mineral products, including crude oil.
"Belarus must no longer serve as a route to circumvent our sanctions against Russia," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Russian oligarch and business tycoon Dmitry Pumpyansky has successfully appealed against sanctions imposed by the European Union, according to a decision by the EU General Court published on June 26.
The EU Council adopted the 14th round of sanctions against Russia on June 24, aimed at tackling the circumvention of existing measures and to further restrict profits from Russia's energy industry.
"This package provides new targeted measures and maximizes the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes," the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council said on social media.
European Union countries failed to approve a new sanctions package targeting the Russian gas industry after German authorities intervened to block the deal at the last minute.
The U.S. has proposed that a $50 billion loan to Ukraine could be repaid by profits from frozen Russian assets, on the condition that the EU agrees to extend sanctions against Russia until the end of the war, the Financial Times reported on June 5, citing a leaked EU discussion paper.
The European Council adopted new sanctions on May 31 targeting six individual and three entities from Iran who are involved in the transfer of drones to support Russia's war effort in Ukraine.
The European Union has established a new sanctions regime against Russia in connection with the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the "accelerating and systematic repression in Russia," the Council of the EU announced on May 27.
At Czechia's proposal, the EU has sanctioned former Ukrainian politician and pro-Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, the Czech Foreign Ministry said on May 27.
The European Union is considering imposing sanctions on Belarus as a way to close a trade loophole that has allowed Russia to import luxury cars and other banned goods produced in Western countries, the Financial Times reported on May 23.
The proposed sanctions would prohibit anyone in the EU from doing business with any financial institution that helps the Russian military purchase dual-use goods and technologies.
As Chinese President Xi Jinping toured Europe this week to discuss Ukraine and trade, China remains Russia's leading source of sanctioned dual-use goods, fueling the ongoing war. "Around 90% of the goods deemed high priority products by the Western countries... (was) supplied by China" as Chinese-made products or re-exported goods
The shadow fleet refers to aging and largely uninsured oil tankers that Russia uses to transport oil above the $60 per barrel price cap that the EU, the U.S., and the Group of Seven (G7) countries imposed in December 2022 as part of the effort to cut Moscow's fossil fuels revenue.
According to Bloomberg, the ban on Russian funding could impact far-right parties in Europe such as Germany's AfD and France's National Rally, both of which have previously been accused of links to Russia.
Kadri Simson also said the EU is preparing for a sudden end to the Russian gas supply when the transit contract between Ukraine and Moscow expires at the end of this year.
The EU executive body is proposing that the Voice of Europe media outlet be added to the upcoming 14th round of EU sanctions against Russia, the Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourova, said on May 5, as reported by European Pravda.
The largest Western banks that continue to operate in Russia have paid 800 million euros ($857 million) in taxes to its budget in 2023, which is four times more than before Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing its analysis.
The EU is assessing imposing sanctions against over a dozen companies that continue to supply Russia with weapons technology, such as navigation systems for missiles, Bloomberg reported on April 23.
The European Council in a statement released after the first day of a summit in Brussels condemned Iran's attack and expressed full solidarity with the people of Israel, reiterating its commitment to "Israel's security and regional stability."
Raiffeisen Bank in Austria announced its decision on April 16 to replace job advertisements that featured "misleading language," suggesting an expansion of the bank's operations in Russia.
The European Council approved the law on the prosecution of violation or circumvention of EU sanctions, mainly concerning the sanctions against Russia, the parliament's press service reported on April 12.
France has paid Russia 600 million euros ($644 million) for liquified natural gas (LNG) imports in just the first three months of 2024, making it the fastest-growing consumer of Russian LNG in the EU, Politico reported on April 11.
The EU Court of Justice ruled on April 10 to lift sanctions against Russian business tycoons Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, imposed in response to the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"We have started preparing a 14th sanctions package, which should be adopted in spring," Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said at the "Standing with Ukraine: European Parliament's legacy for the sanctions regime" conference of the Socialists and Democrats parliamentary group in Brussels.
The EU has banned the Turkish airline Southwind from flying in its airspace due to links with Russia, Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet reported on March 30.
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