As the European Council Meeting today announces the 19th sanctions package against Russia, Ukrainian campaign group Razom We Stand welcomes the long-awaited ban on Russian LNG, but warns that Europe must act stronger and faster to prevent paying a single euro into Russia’s war chest.
The 19th sanctions package, which includes 117 new vessels tied to Russia’s shadow fleet, is a crucial step in halting the global transportation of Russian fossil fuels. More listings must continue in future sanctions packages to ensure the entire shadow fleet, estimated at up to 1,400 ships according to Reuters, is sanctioned. Razom We Stand urges the EU to establish new compliance mechanisms for vessel designations, ensuring that sanctions are respected and enforced globally, particularly in third countries that continue to handle ships and cargoes.
Dr Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Executive Director of Razom We Stand, said: “Inspired by a change of direction with new USA sanctions, and a new 19th Sanctions package, now should be the moment Europe finally turns these temporary measures into permanent ones to stop bankrolling Russia’s war in Ukraine. The inclusion of a ban on Russian LNG in the latest EU sanctions package is a huge step forward, one that we and many others have been calling for since the start of the full-scale invasion. But Europe must not stop here, and now fully implement the REPowerEU roadmap and adopt a permanent trade ban on Russian gas to ensure not a single euro continues to flow to Russia’s war chest.
Adding 117 shadow fleet vessels is also a welcome step, but this must be the beginning, not the end. The EU must now target the whole ecosystem that sustains this illegal trade by making it clear to third countries that dealing with these sanctioned vessels comes with real consequences. That means sanctioning those who enable Russia’s fossil fuel trade in third countries, from insurers to refiners.”
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the EU has paid over EUR 215 billion into the Kremlin’s war chest through fossil fuel imports, including over EUR 106 billion in Russian gas.
To achieve affordable energy security in Europe, the EU must accelerate its renewable energy transition with concrete measures that reduce bureaucratic hurdles slowing the growth of cheaper and more reliable clean energy. After Russia’s latest missile attack on a Ukrainian kindergarten that left children and six people dead, and with Russia’s repeated violations of NATO’s borders, the stakes could not be higher.
Razom We Stand is calling on EU leaders to seize today’s European Council meeting as the moment to strengthen sanctions and speed up their REPowerEU plan with concrete and permanent measures to stop Putin’s war, including:
- Strengthen diversification plans: Require all Member States to submit transparent, public national plans with binding milestones for replacing Russian oil and gas with renewables, energy efficiency, and gas demand reduction.
- Enhance traceability: Introduce certificates of origin to prevent Russian gas from being laundered through third countries. These documents would help to avoid the whitewashing of Russian gas and ensure the traceability of gas in both importing and consuming countries.
- Fix weak points: Permanently ban transshipments and ban EU companies from transporting or reselling Russian LNG outside the EU.
- The EU must finalise a deal with Belgium to use Russian frozen assets, prioritising rebuilding destroyed Ukrainian energy systems with more resilient, clean energy ones.
