The EU countries have agreed on the 18th sanctions package against Russia on Friday morning. This was announced by the EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.
The sanctions will weaken Russia's ability to wage war, she writes on the social media X.
- We are standing firm. The EU has just approved one of the toughest sanctions packages against Russia to date.
- We are further cutting Russia's war budget and taking action against an additional 105 ships in the shadow fleet and those who help it. In addition, we are limiting Russian banks' access to financing, writes the foreign minister.
The sanctions package was adopted after Slovakia's Prime Minister, Robert Fico, said on Thursday evening that the country would no longer block new sanctions, which require unanimity.
Will hit the energy sector in Russia
The purpose of the new package of sanctions is, among other things, to hit the Russian energy sector. A lower price ceiling will therefore be introduced for crude oil, which Russia makes a lot of money exporting. At the same time, there will be a ban on using the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The EU hopes to make it so expensive for Russia to wage war against neighboring Ukraine that the Russians will give up their war ambitions.
- We will continue to increase the costs, so that the only viable path for Moscow (the capital of Russia, ed.) will be to stop the aggression, writes Kaja Kallas on X.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) also emphasizes that the pressure on Russia is increasing with sanctions that affect earnings from oil and gas.
- Now we are tightening our grip on the Russian war machine with new measures against energy revenues, exports, circumvention and the shadow fleet.
- Under the Danish presidency, the EU has today reached agreement on an 18th sanctions package, which increases the pressure on Russia, he writes on X.
Slovakia has has so far stood in the way of the sanctions package in order to obtain concessions from the EU Commission in negotiations to stop importing Russian gas from 2028. Slovakia would like to be able to continue buying gas from Russia for a longer period. On Thursday evening, Fico said that Slovakia had achieved as much as it could at this point.
- It will be counterproductive to continue blocking the 18th sanctions package tomorrow, he said in a video message on Facebook.
/ritzau/Reuters
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