Russia’s energy and banking sector should meet new EU sanctions

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a proposal for an 18th sanction package due to the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. « We essentially target two sectors, the Russian energy sector and the Russian banking sector, » she said in Brussels.

« For the first time we propose a ban on transaction for north stream 1 and north stream 2. This means that no EU operator may be directly or indirectly involved in transactions related to the North Stream pipelines-there is no back to the past. »

The sanctions against Nord Stream would be more symbolic, since the tubes in the Baltic Sea are currently no gas flowing to Europe anyway. One of the two tubes from Nord Stream 2 was destroyed in an attack in September 2022, as was the strands of the North Stream 1 pipeline that has already been put into operation.

The Commission can prepare a sanction package. The EU member states must vote on this.

Oil price as a means of pressure

The Leyen also proposed to reduce the upper limit for the oil price from $ 60 to $ 45 per barrel. Oil exports continued to make up a third of Russia’s state revenue. « The upper oil price limit is a measure of the G7 coalition, so we will advise you at the G7 summit in Canada at the end of this week or early next week on how we want to proceed, » said the commission president.

The summit of the seven western industrialized nations (G7) will take place on June 15th to 17th in Canada. Members of the “Group of Seven” are Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada and the USA. US President Donald Trump is also expected.

A new sanction package is currently also being prepared in the US Senate. Most recently, Trump had shown herself reluctantly with a view to new sanctions against Russia, but at the same time increased the pressure on Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.

17th sanction package in force since May

In addition to the measures in the energy sector, the Commission also proposes for the new package to convert the existing ban on using the SWIFT financial communication system into a complete ban on transaction. In addition, the transaction ban should be extended to financial service providers in third countries, which financed the trade with Russia by circumventing sanctions.

Most recently, the EU countries had put further sanctions against Russia in May. The 17th sanction package provided for a sharper approach to the Russian shadow fleet for the transport of oil and oil products.