The European Union has adopted its 21st package of restrictive measures against Russia over the war in Ukraine, according to a statement on the European Council's website, as reported by infohub.kz.
The new package includes tough economic sanctions targeting sectors with the greatest impact on Russia's economy and its ability to fund military operations in Ukraine. It also imposes sanctions on 48 individuals and 170 entities. The measures include asset freezes and a ban on providing funds to 94 banks and major financial institutions.
The sanctions target 14 cryptocurrency platforms registered in Georgia, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus. The EU is suspending the automatic adjustment of the price cap mechanism for Russian oil until July 15, 2027.
Sanctions on Russia's "shadow fleet" are also expanded, with 41 additional vessels added, bringing the total to 673. The EU added 51 new entities to the list subject to stricter export restrictions on dual-use goods and technologies due to their support for Russia's military-industrial complex.
"Some of these entities are located in third countries (China, including Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates) and facilitate Russia's circumvention of export restrictions, including on microelectronics, computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools, and semiconductor processing equipment," the statement said.
The new package establishes a legal basis for a full visa ban for current and former service members of the Russian armed forces and other units involved in combat operations against Ukraine. The EU Council will decide later on the final implementation of this measure. Export and import restrictions on certain goods are also introduced.