The European Union approved its 19th sanctions package against Russia after Slovakia withdrew its objections on the evening of October 22, 2025. The new measures affect banks, Russian LNG, cryptocurrency transactions, the shadow fleet, exports of industrial goods, and also impose additional restrictions on Russian diplomats.
The energy section introduces a ban on imports of Russian LNG from April 25, 2026. For contracts longer than one year signed before June 17, 2025, the ban will take effect on January 1, 2027. Restrictions on dealings with Rosneft and Gazprom Neft were also tightened, while two Chinese oil refining companies, one trader, and another 117 vessels of Russia’s shadow fleet were sanctioned. The total number of listed tankers has now risen to 557.
The financial block includes a ban on transactions with Alfa-Bank, MTS Bank, Absolut Bank, Zemsky Bank and the non-bank credit institution Istina, as well as restrictions on branches of Alfa-Bank, VTB and Sber in Belarus and Kazakhstan. The EU also expanded its ban on the use of Russian payment services, including the Faster Payments System and Mir cards, and imposed measures on banks and oil traders in third countries that help circumvent sanctions.
Separately, the EU for the first time brought the cryptocurrency sector into its sanctions regime: the package provides for blocking crypto transactions for Russian residents, sanctions against the Grinex exchange, and restrictions on the ruble-linked cryptocurrency A7A5. European companies and citizens are also barred from dealing with foreign entities that provide crypto services to Russians.
The package also contains other measures: broader export restrictions on chemicals, metals, ores and salts; blacklisting 45 companies linked to Russia’s military-industrial complex and sanctions evasion; a ban on EU businesses organizing tourist trips to Russia; and limits on services in artificial intelligence, high-performance computing and commercial space technologies. Another 11 people were added to sanctions lists over the deportation or forced transfer of nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children.
At the EU summit in Brussels on October 23, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it was becoming harder for Putin to finance the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the new package extremely important. At the same time, European leaders shifted attention to the fate of 210 billion euros in frozen Russian sovereign assets. They are discussing a 140 billion euro “reparations loan” for Kyiv backed by those funds, but Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever demanded a sharing of legal risks, joint repayment guarantees, and participation by all countries holding Russian assets.