On 19 September 2025 EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the EU’s 19th sanctions package against Russia. The package targets energy, financial, and trade measures. Key elements include an accelerated ban on Russian LNG, a lower oil price cap, expanded asset freezes and transaction bans in the energy sector, new anti-circumvention rules (covering crypto and third-country banks), export controls on defense-related goods, and a proposal to use frozen Russian assets as a “Reparations Loan” for Ukraine. All measures will require formal approval by EU member states to be enshrined as law.
The package bans all imports of Russian LNG into the EU and accelerates the phase-out of Russian pipeline gas. To further squeeze Russian oil revenues, the Commission added 118 additional “shadow fleet” tankers to the sanctions list (opaque ships used to evade sanctions), bringing the total to over 560 vessels banned.
Furthermore, new transaction bans and asset freezes on major Russian oil firms have been implemented, with various other oil companies facing asset freezes. The sanctions also target overseas energy conduits: the EU “targets refineries, oil traders, petrochemical companies in third countries, including China,” that buy or process oil in breach of sanctions. In three years, EU oil revenues to Russia will have fallen to 90%, the Commission noted.
The package also combats, and closes, financial loopholes. It bans transactions entered into by additional Russian banks and by foreign banks in third countries that facilitate certain financially prohibited flows. EU sanctions explicitly affect cryptocurrencies, with all crypto trading platforms and crypto transactions linked to Russian sanctions evasion being prohibited. Likewise, the EU is sanctioning foreign banks tied to Russia’s domestic payment networks and restricting dealings with special economic zones (so-called “duty-free” zones often used to import military-use goods).
In practice, this means EU persons and firms cannot transact in cryptocurrency affairs on Russia-facing platforms, ought to apply asset freezes to newly listed banks, and are obliged to block transactions which involve firms listed under the involving firms in the Specified Economic Zones (‘SEPs’). These steps are meant to stay “ahead” of increasingly sophisticated evasion schemes.
A third pillar of the package tightens military exports. The EU adopted new direct export restrictions on items “used on the battlefield” – for example, advanced electronics, semiconductors or drones – and blacklisted additional defense-related entities. President von der Leyen announced 45 companies (in Russia and abroad) will now be listed for providing direct or indirect support to Russia’s military-industrial complex. In other words, EU exporters will need special licenses to ship these goods, even though these will likely be denied, effectively doing away with some key technology supply lines. This aligns EU sanctions with those of other G7 partners.
The 19th package must be formally adopted by the EU Council unanimously and will enter force by EU Regulation. This comprehensive package further tightens the noose on Russia’s energy and military funding while expanding the legal aspect (bank bans, crypto bans, etc.) to counter infringements. It represents the EU’s continued commitment to using sanctions as a legal instrument to press for peace and accountability in the Ukraine war.
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Author: Dr Karl Cauchi