The permanent representatives of the EU has approved the long-awaited 11th package of sanctions against Russia during Wednesday's meeting.

"Today, the EU Ambassadors agreed on the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. The package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings," tweeted the Swedish presidency of the Council of EU.

#COREPER II | Today, the EU Ambassadors agreed on the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. The package includes measures aimed at countering sanctions circumvention and individual listings.

— Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU (@sweden2023eu) June 21, 2023

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, welcomed the political agreement on the 11th package of sanctions.

"It will deal a further blow to Putin’s war machine with tightened export restrictions, targeting entities supporting the Kremlin. Our anti-circumvention tool will prevent Russia from getting its hands on sanctioned goods," she tweeted.

The European Commission presented proposals for the 11th package of sanctions against Russia to EU member states in early May.

However, EU ambassadors struggled for weeks to reach a consensus. The main reason was Greece and Hungary protesting against including some of their companies on the list of "war sponsors" proposed by Ukraine. Athens and Budapest wanted their companies to be removed from that list.

Currently, the details of how the resistance from the two countries was overcome are unknown.

In May, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated that the European Commission proposed to add new import restrictions and toughen liability for circumventing sanctions.