The European Commission welcomed EU Member States' adoption of the 21st sanctions package against Russia. The package tightens measures across energy, financial services including crypto, trade and the Russian military-industrial complex, while also creating the legal basis for a visa ban on Russian combatants and ex-combatants and adding protections for EU operators against retaliatory Russia-linked litigation. It also mirrors certain trade-related and crypto governance measures in the Belarus sanctions regime. On financial services, the package expands transaction bans to additional Russian and third-country banks, taking the total number of Russian banks covered to more than 100, and adds a prohibition on the use of financial messaging services for those institutions. It also creates a dedicated third-country ban for crypto-asset services, imposes transaction bans on additional third-country crypto platforms and crypto-linked firms, and extends the prohibition on Russian nationals owning, controlling or serving on the boards of companies offering crypto-asset services. Beyond these restrictions, the package adds 218 listings, including 48 individuals and 170 entities, among them 94 banks and major financial institutions, and adds 51 entities linked to Russia's military-industrial complex or sanctions circumvention, including 27 in third countries. In energy and trade, the EU suspended the planned oil price cap adjustment until July 2027, expanded transaction bans to specified ports, airports and one refinery, added 41 shadow fleet vessels and broadened listing criteria to certain service providers, introduced new export controls and import bans, and clarified that the LNG terminal services ban also covers third-country operators controlled by Russian companies. Several elements require further decisions or review. The Council will decide when the visa ban enters into force once implementing measures are in place, and the Commission will return on implementation preparations in three months. A Commission assessment in three months will inform whether the Council should impose a full ban on LNG tanker sales to Russia, while the Kulevi refinery listing will take effect after six months to allow diversification away from Russian crude oil and may then be reassessed.
European Commission2026-07-27
European Commission welcomes adoption of 21st Russia sanctions package, expanding bank and crypto restrictions and adding 218 listings
The European Commission welcomed adoption of the EU's 21st sanctions package against Russia, which tightens measures on energy, banking, crypto, trade and the military-industrial complex. Financial changes expand transaction and messaging-service bans to more than 100 Russian banks, add new third-country crypto restrictions, and accompany 218 new listings. The package also lays the groundwork for a visa ban on Russian combatants, with further Council decisions and Commission assessments still pending on implementation and some LNG measures.