EU envoys decided on a raft of new bans—including primary aluminum imports and sales of gaming consoles—and the listing of 73 shadow-fleet vessels.
The package, which largely follows the European Commission’s proposal, is expected to be adopted by the EU’s foreign ministers on Feb. 24 as they mark the third anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The aluminum import ban will be phased in a year from the official adoption of the package, which also adds 48 individuals and 35 entities to its sanctions, subjecting them to asset freezes and travel bans.
The EU, along with other Western powers including the UK, has been increasing its prohibitions in recent months in an effort to hamper Moscow’s oil exports.
In addition to the sanctioned ships, the envoys agreed to prohibit transactions with ports and airports in the Russian Federation that are used to circumvent the G7 price cap on Russian oil.
The vessels will be added to an existing list of 79 ships, mainly tankers, used by Moscow to sell oil outside the price cap or vessels aiding the Kremlin’s war effort, such as those carrying ammunition from North Korea.
The package also expands the criteria the EU will be able to use to sanction owners and operators of the shadow fleet to include the captains.
The sale of video game consoles, joysticks, and flight simulators will also be restricted as they could be used by Russia’s military to control drones, an EU diplomat said.
Other prohibitions include exports of chromium and certain chemicals, as well as a service ban for oil and gas refineries.
These efforts would include establishing a new consultation mechanism to resolve issues complicating the U.S.–Russia relationship and to rebuild their diplomatic missions on each other’s soil.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the meeting table in Riyadh on Feb. 18.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov led the Russian delegation. He was joined by Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund.
U.S. President Donald Trump has previously indicated he would meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Ushakov said no date has been set and that it’s unlikely that a meeting will take place by next week.
“At some point, when things settle down, I’m going to meet with China, and I’m going to meet with Russia, in particular those two, and I’m going to say, ‘There’s no reason for us to be spending almost a trillion dollars on the military,’” Trump told reporters at the White House on Feb. 13.
European powers have been calling for a seat at the table in those peace negotiations, which so far have also excluded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
However, these sanctions may only harden Russian objections to the inclusion of the EU in any peace talks, with Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Alexander Grushko, saying the bloc must halt its support for Kyiv if it wishes to be included.
