EU Approves New Sanctions Targeting Russia’s Shadow Tanker Fleet.

Representatives of the EU’s 27 member states approved on Wednesday a new sanctions package against Russia, targeting another nearly 200 tankers of the shadow fleet Russia uses to ship its oil to markets. 

The 17th sanctions package is expected to be officially endorsed and adopted by a meeting of the EU’s defense ministers on Tuesday next week. 

The latest sanctions target the shadow fleet which Russia has been using for years to skirt the Western sanctions and the $60 per barrel price cap on its crude oil sales. 

The package also includes designations of Russian individuals over cyber attacks, sabotages, and human rights violations in Europe, according to France 24. 

The 17th sanctions package expands the EU sanctions against Russia’s shadow fleet. Earlier this year, the bloc agreed on a package of sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on Russian aluminum imports and the designation of 73 shadow fleet vessels. The package from February, the 16th since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, expanded the scope of the criteria to use to sanction vessel owners and operators of the Russian shadow tanker fleet, including captains.

Commenting on the initial EU agreement on the 17th sanctions package, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X “We are further restricting access to battlefield technology. And we have listed an additional 189 shadow fleet vessels to target Russia’s energy exports.”

Source: oilprice