European Union governments have agreed to an 11th package of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine aimed largely at stopping other countries and companies from circumventing previously imposed sanctions.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the new package will “deal a further blow to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war machine with tightened export restrictions, targeting entities supporting the Kremlin,” she said on June 21 after the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council announced that the package had been agreed.
“Our anti-circumvention tool will prevent Russia from getting its hands on sanctioned goods,” Leyen added on Twitter.
The latest sanctions aim to close loopholes so that goods and technology vital to Moscow’s war effort don't reach Russia via nations that trade with the EU.
The new package allows the implementation of measures restricting the export of sensitive dual-use goods and technology to third countries, which could then transfer them to Russia. The new rules allow the EU to exert much more pressure to end the practice than before.
EU officials have long been concerned about a surge of demand for EU products from Russia's neighbors, including Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and from other countries that have maintained trading relationships with Moscow, such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and China.
The package adds 71 people and 33 entities to those banned from the EU and freezes any assets they hold in EU jurisdictions for being involved in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
It also extends the suspension of EU broadcasting licenses for five Russian state-controlled media.
In addition, the package bans access to EU ports for ships that engage in ship-to-ship transfers of crude oil or petroleum products at sea if there is cause to suspect the cargo was of Russian origin.