The European Union imposed a new set of sanctions against Russia aimed at limiting its military operations on the third anniversary of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This marks the 16th round of penalties enacted by the 27-member bloc in response to Moscow’s aggressive campaign against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
The new sanctions include restrictions on importing Russian aluminium and a blacklist of 74 ships associated with the so-called “shadow fleet,” which Russia uses to bypass limitations on oil exports.
“This new round of sanctions not only targets the Russian shadow fleet but those who support the operation of unsafe oil tankers, videogame controllers used to pilot drones, banks used to circumvent our sanctions, and propaganda outlets used to spout lies,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
This occurs as the EU seeks to maintain pressure on the Kremlin, despite US President Donald Trump undermining Kyiv and its European partners by initiating talks with Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Additionally, the latest EU sanctions prohibit the sale of gaming consoles to Russia that could be utilised to operate drones in combat and ban eight Russian media outlets from broadcasting within the European Union.
