New sanctions from the European Union against Russia

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union stated in a post on its official social media account, "EU ambassadors have agreed on a powerful and substantial 14th package of sanctions in response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine."

The post noted that the new sanctions include targeted measures and that the package will also close loopholes in existing sanctions.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also commented on the matter, stating, "I welcome the agreement on our 14th sanctions package against Russia."

Von der Leyen stated that the new sanctions package will further restrict Russia's access to key technologies, reduce Russia's energy revenues, and combat Russia's shadow fleet and shadow banking network.

With the new sanctions, the full details of which have not yet been announced, the EU will be taking restrictive measures against Russian LNG for the first time.

The sanctions will not affect the majority of Russia's LNG exports to the EU, but the re-export of Russian LNG through EU ports will be prohibited.

This package had been under negotiation among member states for a long time. Hungary, which is opposed to energy sanctions in principle, had been against the new package. Hungary's concerns were overcome with assurances that no sanctions would be applied to nuclear power plant investments.

Germany had also taken a stance against the package due to potential new obligations for exporting companies. This measure was removed from the package to persuade Germany.

The EU has implemented 13 packages of sanctions against Russia so far due to the war. Within this framework, a wide range of restrictions have been applied to Russia, including trade, finance, energy—such as oil and coal—industry, technology, transport, dual-use and luxury goods, as well as gold and diamonds.