More than two months after the Vice President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced in Tirana (Albania) the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, the EU has finally managed to approve the new measures. Slovakia's veto has greatly hindered the process. A lot. It even caused the "sadness" of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, who this week appeared almost defeated by the impossibility of pushing through the measures. But this Friday, the Slovenian Prime Minister, Robert Fito, has decided to lift his veto and the 27 have closed the plan.
Among the new measures, a dynamic cap on the price of oil imported from Russia stands out, which was previously at $60 per barrel. But from now on, as reported by Bloomberg, a price is set that will always be $15 below the market level. The initial point will be between $45 and $50.
The agreement also includes the prohibition of the use of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, sanctions on another twenty Russian banks, and more control over the shadow fleet: tankers that, without being under Russian flag, actually transport oil from that country, thus avoiding sanctions.
"I welcome the agreement on our 18th package of sanctions against Russia. We are targeting the heart of Russia's war machinery. We are aiming at their banking, energy, and industrial-military sectors, and we are including a new dynamic cap on the price of oil. The pressure is on. And it will continue until Putin ends this war," stated President Von der Leyen in a post on her X social media profile.
"We are further cutting the Kremlin's war budget, targeting 105 more ships from the shadow fleet, their facilitators, and limiting Russian banks' access to financing," Kallas also stated.
"We are increasing pressure on the Russian military industry, the Chinese banks facilitating sanctions evasion, and blocking technological exports used in drones. Our sanctions also affect those who indoctrinate Ukrainian children. We will continue to increase costs, so that stopping aggression becomes the only possible path for Moscow," she also added on her social media.