EU rolls out 20th Russia sanctions package with oil shipping ban and expanded tools
The European Commission proposed the EU’s 20th Russia sanctions package, including a full ban on maritime services for Russian crude oil (insurance, shipping, financing) coordinated with the G7, along with expanded banking restrictions (adding 20 regional banks), crypto-enforcement measures, and new export/import bans on items such as rubber, tractors, cybersecurity tools, metals, chemicals and critical minerals. The package also targets Russia’s shadow fleet (43 vessels) and imposes maintenance bans on LNG tankers and icebreakers, plus an ammonia-import quota and activated anti-circumvention rules to curb re-exports. If approved by unanimous EU members, it could be adopted by Feb. 24, 2026, four years after Russia’s invasion; energy revenues remain a core funding source for Moscow’s war effort.
