On 6 February, the European Commission put forward a new package of sanctions against Russia – the 20th since the start of its war of aggression against Ukraine. The new package of sanctions covers energy, financial services and trade.

“Russia will only come to the table with genuine intent if it is pressured to do so. This is the only language Russia understands,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

The Commission suggests introducing a full maritime services ban for Russian crude oil to diminish Russia’s energy revenues and make it more difficult to find buyers for its oil.

The EU is also to list 43 more vessels part of the shadow fleet, reaching 640 in total. The Commission also suggests making it more difficult for Russia to acquire tankers to be used for the shadow fleet and adds sweeping bans on provision of maintenance and other services for LNG tankers and icebreakers to further dent gas export projects.