EU agrees new sanctions against Russia as Greece secures LNG exemption

The European Union has agreed to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia, following chaotic negotiations that threatened to put the entire package at risk.

Greece, whose veto had until now prevented a deal, secured an exemption to continue shipping Russian LNG to non-EU clients for the foreseeable future.

It marks the 21st sanctions package since February 2022.

The agreement, reached on Thursday by ambassadors, is considerably watered down and raises serious questions about the influence of national economic interests in the yearslong campaign to cripple Moscow's ability to finance the invasion of Ukraine.

Still, the bloc managed to avert a politically disastrous revision of the price cap on Russian oil, which, under a formula introduced before the conflict in the Middle East, was expected to jump from $44 to $58 per barrel.

Brussels considered this scenario unpalatable as it would have provided the Kremlin with relief at a time when Ukraine enjoys fresh momentum on the battlefield.

The deal by ambassadors freezes the cap at $44 per barrel for 12 months, removing a source of uncertainty as hostilities between the United States and Iran resume.

"Freezing the oil price cap adjustment for a year, so that the Russian war machine does not benefit from market shocks," Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said on Thursday morning.

Additionally, the package blacklists more vessels from the shadow fleet, which Russia has deployed to bypass the cap and, at times, conduct hybrid warfare operations. Over 600 of these decrepit vessels have been denied access to EU ports and services.

It also targets Russian banks, crypto and oil-trading platforms, various metals found on the battlefield, as well as over 250 individuals and companies accused of supporting the invasion of Ukraine, spreading pro-war propaganda and enabling circumvention

Thursday's agreement ends weeks of frantic negotiations in which member states moved with resolve to assail the elements they considered inconvenient.