Overview
- EU ambassadors reached a political agreement on the 21st sanctions package on July 23, and the measures will enter formal adoption by a written procedure later the same day.
- The package freezes the Russian oil price cap at about $44.10 per barrel for 12 months to prevent an automatic rise that would boost Moscow’s revenues.
- Brussels expanded financial pressure by adding roughly 218 listings to the sanctions regime and targeting dozens of banks, crypto platforms and oil traders used to evade controls.
- Greece secured a time‑limited carve‑out that allows EU companies to fulfil pre‑existing LNG shipping contracts signed before Russia’s full‑scale invasion, with annual review and bans on new contracts.
- Negotiations exposed the limits of EU unanimity as several tougher proposals were watered down or dropped, even as the package for the first time targets vessels and infrastructure linked to Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ and could shift enforcement challenges to third‑country actors.