The EU May Abandon Large-Scale Sanctions Packages Against Russia – Financial Times
The European Union is considering changing its approach to imposing sanctions against Russia and moving away from the practice of adopting large sanctions packages. This decision was prompted by difficulties in reaching agreement on the 21st package of restrictions, which was blocked for several weeks by certain member states.
According to the Financial Times, Greece delayed the adoption of the 21st sanctions package for several weeks during the approval process. In addition, about one-third of EU member states put forward their own demands, which significantly complicated the negotiations and jeopardized the approval of the restrictions.
According to FT sources, there is a growing tendency in Brussels to push sanctions not in large packages, but in small, thematic blocks. This approach is intended to reduce the risk that a single country could block the entire package due to its own economic interests.
The publication’s sources do not rule out that the 21st sanctions package, adopted last week, may be the last to be approved in the current format.
“It is now clear that this approach no longer works,” the Financial Times quotes one European official familiar with the discussions as saying.
This is reported by the Financial Times.
As a reminder, as part of the 21st sanctions package, the European Union introduced a mechanism allowing member states to confiscate and sell Russian oil from “shadow fleet” tankers used to circumvent sanctions.
On July 25, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga urged Kyiv’s allies to be cautious regarding possible attempts by Russia to use diplomatic statements to ease pressure and block new sanctions decisions.
