Overview
- As of Monday July 20 the 21st sanctions package remains unresolved with EU ambassadors scheduled to meet on Wednesday July 22 and the Urals oil price-cap frozen only until July 23.
- Greece is conditioning its approval on an open-ended exemption for Greek firms to keep transporting Russian LNG to non-EU buyers and the European Commission has launched a rapid economic impact assessment of that carve-out.
- Austria is pressing for compensation for Raiffeisen over losses in Russia and Brussels may remove or redraft Raiffeisen-related provisions to get the package over the line.
- Proposals to tighten rules on crypto channels and third-country facilitators are meeting pushback from member states, which risks leaving a gap in efforts to stop Russia using digital assets for international payments.
- Diplomats say the package has been heavily watered down — nicknamed the 'Emmental' — showing how the EU unanimity rule lets national economic interests dilute blacklistings, import bans and visa restrictions and could blunt pressure on Moscow.