EU Targets 117 Russia Listings After US Diesel Deal

The European Union’s diplomatic service has proposed 117 new sanctions listings targeting the energy and financial channels that fund Russia’s war against Ukraine. Presented to EU ambassadors on Oct. 21 and seen by the Kyiv Independent, the draft names 12 individuals and 105 entities. It arrived barely two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to import diesel from Russia, leaving Brussels scrambling to show it still means business.

If adopted, the listed individuals and entities would face an EU transaction ban and an asset freeze in the bloc. There’s a wider sting, too: sanctions could complicate dealings with companies in third countries that want to protect their commercial ties with the European market.

Refineries in the Crosshairs

Oil sits at the centre of the proposal. The draft includes 31 listings tied to Russia’s oil processing, refining and export capacity, spanning the country from St. Petersburg to Sakhalin. Refined products such as diesel are exactly what Mr Trump agreed to buy, giving the timing its edge.

The Irish Council Presidency spokesperson spoke bluntly about the rationale. The European External Action Service, or EEAS, “proposed 117 additional listings targeting sectors which raise revenue for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, such as the financial sector, energy sector, and the Russian shadow fleet.”

The financial measures reach widely. The package includes 52 banking and financial institutions, two entities that process Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), and a steel company operating from Russian-occupied territory in Donetsk Oblast.

Closing the Evasion Routes

Sanctions depend on enforcement, and Brussels is looking beyond Russia’s borders. The EU has proposed listing entities in third countries accused of helping Moscow evade restrictions: 12 in the United Arab Emirates, plus companies in Oman, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Seychelles.

Some of the 12 individuals have ties to the e-commerce platforms Ozon and Wildberries, which traded in products that help Russia’s military effort, and to Moscow’s search engine Yandex. The report said Ukrainian forces had successfully struck all three companies. The EU is also preparing sanctions against 15 more companies belonging to Russia’s military-industrial complex.

One proposed change goes in the opposite direction. The EU wants to remove one entity in a third country. The draft legal text says it had “ceased the activity which led to its inclusion in the list and has committed to refrain from any such activity in the future.”

Where the Process Stands

Nothing is final. Sanctions experts appointed by the 27 EU countries will review the proposed listings, send them back to ambassadors for approval, and then submit them to ministers for a final vote. Every capital gets a say. That’s how sanctions packages get delayed and diluted.

The politics matter. At their Brussels meeting on Oct. 15-16, EU leaders widely condemned the diesel deal and what the report described as a broader U.S. shift in attitude toward Ukraine. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, who oversees the bloc’s sanctions, put the response plainly: “We see that we have to pressure the aggressor to stop the war, not the victim to surrender.”

Why This Matters:

This package tests whether Europe can hold its own line when Washington wobbles. Sanctions need unanimity among 27 governments, each with its own energy exposure and domestic politics, so the path from draft to adoption runs through national capitals, not Brussels alone. That’s the accountability point: elected governments own the decision. If the United States is softening its stance on Russian energy, Europe carries more of the burden of keeping pressure on Moscow. The cost is political and economic. Targeting third-country intermediaries can also put European commercial relationships at risk. The exercise’s credibility depends on enforcement, not headline numbers.