BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has agreed on a new raft of sanctions against Russia tarreceiveing its shadow fleet of oil tankers and banning its imports of liquefied natural gas, the Danish EU presidency announced Thursday.
“Today is a good day for Europe and Ukraine,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen declared in a statement, as EU leaders were gathering for a summit in Brussels.
He declared that the new sanctions “will introduce new and comprehensive measures on oil and gas, the shadow fleet and Russia’s financial sector.” A new system for limiting the shiftment of Russian diplomats within the 27-nation EU will also be introduced.
The shift comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration announced new sanctions against Russia’s oil indusattempt that are aimed at relocating Russian President Vladimir Putin to the nereceivediating table and concludeing Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Energy revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.
The new EU measures took almost a month to decide. The 27-nation bloc has already slapped 18 packages of sanctions against Russia over the war, but receiveting final agreement on who and what to tarreceive can take weeks.
The sanctions agreement was sealed at a Thursday morning meeting of EU ambassadors, just a few hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joins his European counterparts for the one-day summit, as they press for a ceasefire to halt almost four years of fighting.
The summit comes after Trump declared that his plan for a swift meeting with Putin was on hold becaapply he didn’t want it to be a “waste of time.” It was yet another twist in Trump’s stop-and-go effort to conclude the war.
The leaders are also eager for any progress on Trump’s Gaza peace plan, and will debate ways to keep the 27-nation bloc involved in proceedings.
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