EUROPE: EU slams Russia with fresh sanctions

EU countries on Wednesday agreed a new round of sanctions on Russia, diplomats said, as the bloc looks to keep up pressure in the face of US talks with Russia. The wide-ranging package – which includes a ban on imports of Russian aluminium –  will be formally adopted by EU foreign ministers on Monday, the […]

EU countries on Wednesday agreed a new round of sanctions on Russia, diplomats said, as the bloc looks to keep up pressure in the face of US talks with Russia.

The wide-ranging package – which includes a ban on imports of Russian aluminium –  will be formally adopted by EU foreign ministers on Monday, the third anniversary of Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The EU’s 16th round of sanctions on Russia comes as US President Donald Trump has undercut Kyiv and its European backers by launching efforts with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to end the war.

“The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

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Beyond targeting Russia’s lucrative aluminium sector, the new measures target the so-called “shadow fleet” used to skirt restrictions on Russian oil exports by blacklisting 73 more ageing vessels.