EU fails to agree on new Russia sanctions – Reuters

Two EU member states have blocked the proposed 15th package of sanctions targeting Russia, Reuters reported citing unnamed diplomats in Brussels.

The bloc has adopted a series of embargoes against Moscow to show support for Kiev after the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. The latest package was reportedly aimed at the fleet of tankers transporting Russian oil.

Friday’s failure reportedly came due to a disagreement about extending the time frame for EU companies to divest from Russia, unnamed diplomatic sources told Reuters.

While Reuters did not identify the two countries that objected, Politico said they were Latvia and Lithuania. The EU intends to resume discussions on the package at a later date.

One of the issues for the bloc was the dispute on deliveries of Russian oil-based products. While the EU banned most oil imports from Russia in 2022, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary received exemptions as they could not find other suppliers.

Under an arrangement set to expire on Thursday, Slovakian refiner Slovnaft – owned by Hungary’s MOL – was able to continue selling Russian oil-based products to the Czechs. According to Reuters, Prague said it did not need to extend the arrangement for more than six months, because it was preparing to switch to an upgraded pipeline from Italy to Germany. Bratislava wanted a longer extension, however.

Ukrainian officials involved in crafting the sanctions said last month that they would target 50 individuals as well as 30 legal entities from at least eight countries. Serbia, Iran, China, India, the UAE and Thailand were mentioned as countries helping Russia obtain “critical components” for its military industry.

Ukraine also said the sanctions would target “North Korean officials involved in the dispatch of troops to Russia.” Kiev has accused Pyongyang of sending more than 10,000 troops to aid Moscow, but has not provided any evidence of their actual existence.