EU Imposes Sweeping Sanctions On Russia's Energy And Defense Sectors
The European Union announced a new sanctions package last week to put pressure on the Russian Federation for its war in Ukraine. The EU hopes that these sanctions will reduce Russia's energy revenue. The penalties will also pressure companies and vessels transporting Russian crude. Additionally, the sanctions target refined oil products and lower the oil price cap for crude oil. Finally, there are penalties on Russian companies and banks, as well as Russia's military-industrial complex.
'We are striking at the heart of Russia's war machine,' stated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on her X account. 'The pressure is on. It will stay on until [Russia] ends this war [in Ukraine].'
The new sanctions package was announced shortly after a European gathering in June, where the EU shared that it would seek to ban all Russian oil and gas imports by 2027. EU officials then moved forward with the proposal by implementing the new sanctions package in July.
Several European officials welcomed the move. For example, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas stated that the 'EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war.' She added that this was one of the 'strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date.'
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that the EU is 'keeping up the pressure on Russia.' He added that the new package 'weakens Russia's ability to continue financing the war against Ukraine.' Similarly, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the EU's new sanctions on Russia.
Having implemented this new package, the EU is hopeful that the United States will announce similar penalties. The U.S. Senate is weighing a new sanctions bill, but policymakers have yet to vote on the proposed legislation.
As EU officials work to persuade their American counterparts, the Russian Federation quickly condemned the move. Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that the EU's new sanctions package was 'illegal' and 'anti-Russian.' It remains to be seen how the Russian Federation will respond to the penalties imposed by the EU.
When the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, numerous countries around the world came together to punish Russia for its behavior. Several Russian banks were removed from the international financial messaging system, known as SWIFT. Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe and suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Several countries announced that they would stop purchasing Russian oil and gas. Additionally, over 1,000 companies withdrew or suspended their business operations in Russia. Finally, hundreds of Russian politicians and oligarchs had their assets frozen or seized.
Despite these stiff penalties, Russia has continued its invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the international community has explored other avenues for punishing Russia for its war. One realm has been through Russia's energy sector.
When the full-scale war began, the EU considered imposing an embargo on Russian crude and petroleum products. The Europeans also discussed potential restrictions on Russian oil. Eventually, the EU announced that it would 'plan to wean itself off Russian gas.'
On the surface, the EU has moved toward its goal of halting future energy purchases from Russia. A report by the European Commission states that EU imports of Russian gas 'dropped from over 40% in 2021 to about 11% in 2024.' Additionally, the EU lowered price caps for crude oil and placed sanctions on vessels transporting Russian oil. The EU has also diversified its energy market to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
But the EU's energy situation with Russia is more complex. A Euronews report in 2023 found that the EU's purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) increased by 40% after Russia's full-scale invasion began. In addition, a 2025 report by High North News found that the EU paid nearly 300% more for Russian LNG in 2024 than it had before the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In other words, while the EU has introduced several sanctions packages targeting Russian banking, energy, and military-industrial sectors, the Russian Federation has continued its war in Ukraine. This is partly due to revenue earned from the Russian energy sector.
According to a July report by Al Jazeera, 'oil is Russia's main source of income.' Throughout the war, Russia has continued to generate billions of dollars in revenue by exporting oil around the world. The revenue earned from these energy transactions has helped stimulate the Russian economy, despite sanctions. The Al Jazeera report adds that energy sales help Russia 'pour money into the [Russian] armed forces,' and this allows Russia to continue its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Current international penalties have failed to deter the Russian Federation from continuing its war in Ukraine. But the EU is hopeful that its new strategy will make a difference. It remains to be seen whether the new sanctions package will be sufficient to force an end to Russia's war.
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Associated Press
26 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Gabbard uses surprise White House appearance to attack Trump's enemies on the Russia investigation
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Washington Post
26 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Gabbard uses surprise White House appearance to attack Trump's enemies on the Russia investigation
WASHINGTON — As the national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard is responsible for guarding America's secrets and discovering threats from overseas. But when she made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Wednesday, her targets were President Donald Trump's political enemies . Escalating her attempts to undermine the long-settled conclusion that Russia tried to help Trump beat Hillary Clinton for the presidency nearly a decade ago, she unspooled what she called unshakeable proof that then-President Barack Obama and his advisers plotted nothing short of a coup . 'They conspired to subvert the will of the American people,' she said, claiming they fabricated evidence to taint Trump's victory. Little of what she said was new, and much of it was baseless. 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The focus on a years-old scandal also served Trump's attempts to shift attention from the Jeffrey Epstein case and questions about the president's own association with an abuser of underage girls. During her White House remarks, Gabbard said she has referred the documents to the Justice Department to consider for a possible criminal investigation. Obama's post-presidential office declined to comment Wednesday but issued a rare response a day earlier. 'These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,' said Patrick Rodenbush, an Obama spokesman. The White House rejected questions about the timing of Gabbard's revelations and whether they were designed to curry favor with Trump or distract attention from the administration's handling of files relating to Epstein. Still, Trump was quick to reward Gabbard's loyalty this week, calling her 'the hottest person in the room.' 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On Friday, Gabbard's office released a report that downplayed the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election by highlighting Obama administration emails showing officials had concluded before and after the presidential race that Moscow had not hacked state election systems to manipulate votes in Trump's favor. But Obama's Democratic administration never suggested otherwise, even as it exposed other means by which Russia interfered in the election, including through a massive hack-and-leak operation of Democratic emails by intelligence operatives working with WikiLeaks, as well as a covert influence campaign aimed at swaying public opinion and sowing discord through fake social media posts. 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Forbes
26 minutes ago
- Forbes
EU-Wide Plan AimsTo Nudge Researchers Towards Startup Life
Fderico Menna, CEO of EIT Digital says Europe's ecosystems are fragmented Europe has a commercialisation problem. The continent is home to a great many world-class universities, but their record on converting laboratory research into successful startup and scaleup businesses is relatively poor when compared to their counterparts in the United States. It's not an easy problem to solve, but a new initiative by EIT Digital is hoping to encourage more academic researchers to explore commercial pathways for the IP they create. Established in 2010 and part funded by the E.U., EIT Digital's mission is to drive digital innovation while also supporting entrepreneurship in Europe. Its latest initiative - dubbed SPIN: RISE - aims to address what it describes as the 'research-to-market' gap. It's a bold statement of intent given the deep-seated issues that are preventing Europe from matching the levels of innovation seen in the U.S.. So what can reasonably be achieved? To find out more, I spoke to EIT Digital's CEO, Federico Menna. Under Exploited Research There is certainly a problem to be addressed. Towards the end of last year, former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi published a report on European competitiveness. One of the observations in a generally downbeat document was that much of the research generated by Europe's researchers remained unexploited. Indeed, only about a third of the patents granted by Europe's issuing body found their way to the marketplace. In other words, there are a lot of wasted opportunities. So why is Europe underperforming? According to Menna, there are a number of reasons, not least an outflow of talent. As he sees it, the US, China and Europe are fairly evenly balanced when it comes to nurturing technology talent. However, around 60% of Europe's technologists and entrepreneurs have opted to live and work in the U.S.. 'These talents are the ones who are pushing the technology forward, bringing the technology to the market and creating global players,' he says. Regulation can have a dampening effect. The European Union - often for very good reasons - is rather fond of regulating, but Menna says this can be counterproductive when it comes to the development and rollout of new technologies. Capital is also a problem, with European VCs tending to be relatively risk-averse. Then there is the reality of fragmentation. There is a European Single Market, but within that, there are 27 ecosystems, each with its own regulations and IP protection mechanisms. 'The support structures are there, but they don't connect with each other,' adds Menna. There is perhaps even more diversity around technology transfer, with rules, attitudes and enthusiasm varying significantly between universities. Collectively, all these factors act as a deterrent to entrepreneurship. Encouraging Entrepreneurship EIT Digital's approach to solving the problem is to work with university Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) to identify research with commercial potential while providing entrepreneurial education for researchers. Menna says the idea is to create a template for all of the EU. 'The value of SPIN: RISE is that it brings the activities of TTOs and of entrepreneurial training to a higher level. We are trying to unify the approach across Europe without entering into the fragmentation of each individual member state.' How does this play out in practice? Menna describes SPIN:RISE as a pre-incubation program. 'The outcome of this is not a startup yet. The outcome is an entrepreneur or a researcher who is not quite an entrepreneur yet, but who is ready to take the next step. From there, we connect to our other programs, like Venture Incubation. That moves on to creating the company and getting the first investment.' The initiative is divided into two parts. The first is online and is to some extent focused on awareness raising - for instance, helping researchers to identify possible commercial opportunities. Then there is an on-site component. 'We allow them to have hands-on experience - refining their innovation, discussing the value proposition, meeting industry partners. This is where they begin to get their hands dirty and start moving away from research and into business.' The aim this year is to have around people 150 taking part in the online component and similar number going on to the advanced stage. The programs are delivered in tandem with delivery partners such as Bocconi University in Milan and SIBB in Berlin. Menna stresses that the program is focused on market verticals, namely smart manufacturing, digital health and wellbeing, cyber resilient societies and trustworthy AI, and dual use technologies for civil and security applications. It is, he says, a question of priorities. 'The innovation gap is across the board, and we will not solve it across the board. There are technologies where Europe will not catch up. There are others where Europe can catch up. And in the case of some technologies, Europe is in the lead and we shouldn't allow others to take the lead. For example, Quantum.' The success of the program will be measured by conversion rates. In the longer-term, how do these conversion rates translate into companies created and MVPs? Later on, EIT digital will track first customers and first investors. There are different perspectives on this. Earlier this month, the European Commission announced that the trading bloc was doing well on innovation, particularly when viewed through the prism of progress made by member states. This reflects the fact that the countries making up the EU have their own programs, ambitions and priorities. In that respect, EIT Digital's initiative potentially represents another piece of the jigsaw with a program designed to encourage technology transfer across the continent.
