EU sanctions hit Russian gas for first time, diplomats say

European Union countries have agreed on the 14th package of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, diplomats said on Thursday, including the first restrictions on Russian gas.

The package bans the re-export of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to EU waters, but stops short of banning imports, as the bloc did in 2022 for Russian offshore oil. Some EU countries still import gas from Russia via Ukraine.

However, gas market experts say the measure will have minimal impact as gas transshipments through EU ports to Asia only account for around 10% of total Russian LNG exports.

The package also sanctions three Russian LNG projects and includes a clause designed to allow Sweden and Finland to cancel Russian LNG contracts, according to diplomats.

Belgium, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency until July 1, said on social media platform X that the package “maximizes the impact of existing sanctions by closing gaps.”

“This tough package will further hinder Russia’s access to key technologies. It will deprive Russia of more energy revenues. And it will fight Putin’s fleet and network of shadow banks abroad,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in

The countries discussed the new measures for more than a month and eventually watered down one of the Commission’s proposals, which aimed to prevent further tax evasion, at Germany’s request.

The abandoned measure would have forced subsidiaries of EU companies in third countries to contractually ban the re-export of their products to Russia. The EU is keen to stop the flow of dual-use technologies, such as chips for washing machines, which could be used by Russia for military purposes.

An EU diplomat said Germany had requested an impact assessment and that the measure could be included at a later date.

Source: Terra

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