Translated with AI
More than 100 vessels of Russia's "shadow fleet", as well as over 50 Russian and Russia-linked individuals and legal entities (including five Chinese) will be included in the new, 17th package of sanctions against Moscow. The European Commission has put forward such a proposal, diplomatic sources told Reuters.
The new measures against Russia also imply increased export controls on goods and technologies that could be used by the Russian armed forces. The restrictions will be imposed on 31 companies that support the Russian defense industry or are involved in evading sanctions. Of these, 13 are located outside Russia, one of the sources said.
A sanctions waiver will be extended until June next year for Russia's Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, one of the sources said, because of its importance to Japan.
The European Commission's proposals were drafted more quickly than usual and without prior consultation with EU member states, the agency notes. According to a European official, the proposals were intended to demonstrate that the bloc "can still agree on something against Russia" after repeated veto threats from Hungary. Discussions on the 17th sanctions package start on Wednesday.
Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that the EU was working on another package of anti-Russian sanctions in coordination with the US authorities. He stressed that Europe would support the US efforts to introduce "crushing" restrictions against Moscow, which Senator Lindsey Graham had previously announced, if the Kremlin refused to reach a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.
On Saturday, Reuters sources said the US sanctions would affect Gazprom and unnamed "major companies" working with natural resources, as well as the Russian banking sector.
