The European Union added 1,646 names to its Russia sanctions blacklist in its largest single expansion yet, after ambassadors sealed a deal in Brussels on Wednesday. The package covers 743 individuals and 826 entities accused of supporting Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The measures also reach new ground. Separately, they target 77 lawmakers who stood for election in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories during the widely discredited State Duma election in September. For Ukrainians living under occupation, that vote was never a free choice. Brussels now holds those who took part accountable.
What the Measures Do
The sanctions impose a travel ban, freeze assets and prohibit funding. Foreign ministers are due to formally approve the package on Monday, when they meet in Luxembourg. Only after that will officials publish the names of the targeted people and entities.
Ambassadors spent several weeks deliberating and checking the listings against legal challenges. The sheer number of names made the process especially intensive. A listing that doesn’t survive a legal challenge protects no one, so the review matters as much as the headline figure.
A Show of Unity, and the Price Paid for It
Member states wanted to move quickly. They aimed to project unity amid a rapid succession of hybrid attacks, some attributed to Russia. Work has already started on new listings in response to the drone incident at Leipzig airport in Germany.
There was another motive. Last month’s contentious decision to remove two high-profile oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, from the blacklist left a bruise in Brussels.
France requested Usmanov’s removal, tying it to a prisoner release with Azerbaijan brokered by the Turkic states, which had long lobbied in the billionaire’s favour. One French citizen has been released. A second remains in prison. In exchange for what officials described as a painful concession, the EU extended the sanctions list for an unprecedented three years. The blacklist will soon cover almost 4,650 names.
High Representative Kaja Kallas welcomed the three-year renewal earlier this week, but said she thought it unlikely Usmanov and Fridman would be included again. “Countries are free to put forward names that should be included in the sanctions list. But in the end, it is up to the member states to decide,” Kallas said. “And I do not see this on these two persons happening any time soon.”
The Unanimity Problem
Brussels continues to deal with the fallout from the Usmanov case and the precedent it might set for the EU’s common foreign policy, which relies on unanimity. One government’s request, tied to one bilateral deal, was enough to reopen a decision all member states had taken.
As the bloc prepares to admit new members, the European Commission has proposed using the so-called passerelle clause to move from unanimity to qualified majority voting on issues such as sanctions. The aim is to prevent more vetoes. But the clause has a catch: unanimity is required to end unanimity.
Why This Matters:
Sanctions work only if they hold, and holding them takes collective will that individual capitals can’t provide alone. The Usmanov episode showed how a single bilateral bargain, including one involving detained citizens, can strain a shared policy. The 1,646 new listings show the EU can still act at scale. Yet the bloc’s foreign policy rests on a rule that lets any one government stall or reopen decisions, and enlargement will multiply the chances of that happening. Whether member states are ready to give up some of their veto power is now a live question. The answer will shape how credibly Europe can back Ukraine in the years ahead.