EU agrees on new package of sanctions against Russia

The EU countries have agreed on the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, in particular its liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, in response to the Kremlin's aggression against Ukraine.

The package includes new targeted measures and maximises the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes.

Officials from 27 EU countries have been discussing the sanctions package for more than a month. The new measures include a ban on the transshipment of Russian LNG and a plan to hold EU operators liable for violations of sanctions by their subsidiaries and partners in third countries.

Earlier, the media reported that Germany was hampering the 14th package of sanctions against Russia by expanding measures that would have forced EU companies to guarantee that their customers would not be able to sell sanctioned goods to Russia.

Germany and France had joined forces to oppose a ban on exports of luxury cars to Belarus, which had become a "transit point" for Russian oligarchs to continue buying them.

An EU diplomat told Politico that the European Commission was in talks with Germany to persuade it to lift its veto.

The Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU sought to finalise an agreement on the sanctions package before the G7 summit in Italy but failed to do so.

As part of the 14th sanctions package, the European Commission proposed, for the first time, targeting several liquefied natural gas projects and banning the transshipment of Russian LNG from the EU to third countries.