EU Target Russia With New Sanctions    07/18 06:19

   

   BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union approved on Friday a new raft of 
sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine, including a lower oil price 
cap, a ban on transactions with Nord Stream gas pipelines, and the targeting of 
more shadow fleet ships, the EU foreign policy chief said.

   "The message is clear: Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. 
The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war," Kaja Kallas 
said in a statement.

   Kallas said the measures amount to "one of its strongest sanctions packages 
against Russia to date" linked to the war, now in its fourth year. It comes as 
European countries start to buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine to help the country 
better defend itself.

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the new measures, 
describing them as a "timely and necessary" step amid intensified Russian 
attacks.

   "All infrastructure of Russia's war must be blocked," Zelenskyy said, adding 
that Ukraine will synchronize its sanctions with the EU and introduce its own 
additional measures soon.

   The European Commission, the EU's executive branch, had proposed to lower 
the oil price cap from $60 to $45, which is lower than the market price to 
target Russia's vast energy revenues. The 27 member countries decided to set 
the price per barrel at just under $48.

   The EU had hoped to get major international powers in the Group of Seven 
countries involved in the price cap to broaden the impact, but conflict in the 
Middle East pushed up oil prices and the Trump administration could not be 
brought onboard.

   In 2023, Ukraine's Western allies limited sales of Russian oil to $60 per 
barrel but the price cap was largely symbolic as most of Moscow's crude -- its 
main moneymaker -- cost less than that. Still, the cap was there in case oil 
prices rose.

   Oil income is the linchpin of Russia's economy, allowing President Vladimir 
Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for 
everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.

   A new import ban was also imposed in an attempt to close a loophole allowing 
Russia to indirectly export crude oil via a number of non-EU countries.

   The EU also targeted the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany to 
prevent Putin from generating any revenue from them in future, notably by 
discouraging would-be investors. Russian energy giant Rosneft's refinery in 
India was hit as well.

   The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany but are not 
in operation. They were targeted by sabotage in 2022, but the source of the 
underwater explosions has remained a major international mystery.

   On top of that, the new EU sanctions targeted Russia's banking sector, with 
the aim of limiting the Kremlin's ability to raise funds or carry out financial 
transactions. Two Chinese banks were added to the list.

   The EU has slapped several rounds of sanctions on Russia since Putin ordered 
his troops into Ukraine in February 24, 2022.

   More than 2,400 officials and "entities" -- often government agencies, 
banks, companies or organizations -- have been hit with asset freezes and 
travel bans.

   But each round of sanctions is getting harder to agree, as measures 
targeting Russia bite the economies of the 27 member nations. Slovakia held up 
the latest package over concerns about proposals to stop Russian gas supplies, 
which it relies on.

   The last raft of EU sanctions, imposed on May 20, targeted almost 200 ships 
in Russia's sanction-busting shadow fleet of tankers. On Friday, 105 more ships 
were blocked from European ports, locks and from ship-to-ship transfers, 
bringing the total number of vessels now sanctioned to more than 400.