EU Targets Russian Oil Revenue After Trump Diesel Deal

On Oct. 21, the European Union’s diplomatic arm proposed 117 additional sanctions listings targeting sectors that generate revenue for Russia’s war against Ukraine, including energy and finance. The draft went to EU ambassadors. It names 12 individuals and 105 entities, which would face a transaction ban with the EU and an asset freeze in the bloc if officials adopt the measures.

Oil, refining and exports

The draft includes 31 listings tied to Russia’s oil processing, refining and export capacity. Targets span the country, from St. Petersburg to Sakhalin. The proposal came barely two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to import diesel, a refined oil product, from Russia.

The deal, along with what the report described as a wider shift in U.S. attitudes toward Ukraine, drew widespread condemnation from EU leaders at a meeting in Brussels on Oct. 15-16. The proposed sanctions would block the listed entities’ transactions with the EU and freeze their assets in the bloc. Sanctions could also complicate dealings with companies in third countries that want to protect their commercial ties with the EU.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas oversees the bloc’s sanctions. She said: “We see that we have to pressure the aggressor to stop the war, not the victim to surrender,” according to the report. An Irish Council Presidency spokesperson said 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.”

Banks and third-country entities

The proposed listings cover 52 banking and financial institutions and two entities that process Russian liquefied natural gas. They also include a steel company operating from Russian-occupied territory in Donetsk Oblast.

The EU proposed sanctions on entities in third countries accused of helping Moscow evade sanctions. The draft names 12 entities in the United Arab Emirates, along with companies in Oman, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Seychelles. The proposed restrictions could also affect firms outside the EU seeking to preserve commercial ties with the bloc, the report said.

Further proposed measures

Some of the 12 people proposed for sanctions have ties to the e-commerce platforms Ozon and Wildberries, which had traded in products that help Russia’s military effort, and to Moscow’s search engine Yandex. The report said Ukrainian military strikes had successfully targeted all three companies.

The EU was also preparing sanctions against 15 more companies in Russia’s military-industrial complex. At the same time, it proposed removing one entity in a third country from the sanctions list. The draft legal text said the entity had “ceased the activity which led to its inclusion in the list and has committed to refrain from any such activity in the future.”

The proposed listings still need review by sanctions experts appointed by the 27 EU countries. They will go back to ambassadors for approval, then be submitted to ministers for a final vote. The draft presented on Oct. 21 hasn’t yet completed that process.