New EU sanctions against Russia will be aimed at tightening existing restrictions and expanding blacklists.

Financial Times reports that according to officials working on future EU sanctions, the new sanctions will, in particular, be aimed at "closing loopholes" to circumvent the measures already introduced earlier.

On Thursday, meetings between the European Commission and officials from EU member states will begin, where proposals for the 11th package of sanctions will be informally discussed.

Most officials acknowledge that only those parts of the Russian economy that are too important to one or more EU member countries remain without sanctions, and any actions taken against them will be vetoed.

"We are finished. If we introduce more sanctions, there will be more exceptions than measures," one of the newspaper's interlocutors said.

Some EU countries will repeat their demands for a ban on Russian nuclear fuel and services export, which have gained momentum in recent days with the support of Germany.

But since France, Hungary, and other countries are against restrictions on the nuclear sector, supporters of such limitations will likely have to settle for individual sanctions against the Kremlin-controlled Rosatom concern's leaders and Russian officials involved in the seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.

The consent of all EU countries is required to impose any sanctions. Hungary has previously promised to oppose any restrictions on Russian nuclear energy (Ukr). 

According to unofficial information, Lithuania has proposed (Ukr) sanctions against Russia's nuclear energy sector to European partners with exemptions for Hungary.