• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

The European Union ramps up sanctions against Russia

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

14.05.2025

Today 14 May, the European Union reached an agreement on a new package of sanctions to ramp up and strengthen measures against Russia.

Restrictions will be imposed on 75 persons and entities, and 189 vessels, mainly oil tankers from the shadow fleet, will be added to the sanctioned vessels list. The 17th package of sanctions will come into effect on Tuesday 20 May, when the foreign ministers of the European Union formally approve it at the Foreign Affairs Council. The latest sanctions package contains many proposals by Estonia.

"Russia has shown no readiness to agree on a ceasefire in Ukraine and continues to destroy Ukraine. In Lviv, the message of the foreign ministers was clear - if the Russian leadership does not agree on a ceasefire, additional sanctions will follow," Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. He stressed that the sanctions package sent a strong and unequivocal message - Russia's aggression in Ukraine will not go unanswered and discussions on imposing additional sanctions have already begun. "Estonia and the EU will not stop until Ukraine has won this war and Russia and its leadership have answered for their actions," he said. "In addition to further sanctions, we must also move forward with the use of the frozen assets of the Russian central bank for the benefit of Ukraine."

189 vessels will be added to the sanctions list, more than doubling the number of sanctioned vessels to 342. Vessels cannot enter European Union ports and it is prohibited to provide services to them. 31 companies will be added to the list of military end-users and companies involved in the circumvention of sanctions, which will now be subject to stricter export restrictions.

75 names (17 individuals and 58 entities) will be added to the sanctions list. Nearly 2 500 individuals and companies have now been sanctioned for undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Since the start of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the European Union has steadily stepped up sanctions against Russia, with 17 packages of sanctions now in force. Tsahkna said that fossil fuel exports constituted Russia's biggest source of revenue. "Coal and seaborne crude oil and petroleum products are already under sanctions, but gas and pipeline oil imports into the European Union continue," he said. "We must continue to restrict imports of Russian energy carriers."

All sanctions will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.