Statement by President von der Leyen on the 21st sanctions package against Russia

Almost every day now, we wake up to the same kind of news. Another major Russian strike on Ukrainian cities, targeting civilians blindly. We also wake up to the news of drones violating European airspace. Over the Baltics, and along our Eastern borders. Two weeks ago, a drone crashed into an apartment building in Romania. Another one exploded in the port of Constanța just last week. Some call it Russian escalation. I see it differently. It is plain and simple: failure. Four years after the start of its full-scale invasion, Russia has clearly failed to subjugate Ukraine. The price Russia pays is heavier by the day. And it is paid primarily by the people of Russia. They are mourning sons, brothers and husbands. And at the same time, they face declining living standards at home. Inflation is close to 6%. Interest rates stand at 14.5%. Taxes are rising. This is the real cost of Putin's war for Russian citizens. And on top of this, our sanctions keep biting hard and cutting deep. They are weakening the economic foundations of Russia's war effort.

Sanctions have effectively cut Russia off from global capital markets. Russia's economy is slowing sharply. Growth is sluggish, at best. The budget is under growing pressure. More than two-thirds of the liquid assets of its sovereign wealth fund are gone. Energy revenues fell by around 40% in early 2026. Hundreds of vessels from Russia's shadow fleet have been targeted by our sanctions. Export controls are depriving Russia's defence industry of critical technologies and components. So our consistency with the sanctions packages is paying off.

Today, we are putting forward the 21st sanctions package. We focus on the sectors with the highest impact: energy, financial services and crypto, trade – including fisheries, for the first time – and we are banning the entry of former Russian combatants into the European Union.

First, on energy. The conflict in the Middle East and disruptions to global energy supply chains have eased some pressure on Russia. So, the objective of our package could not be clearer. We want to maintain the full intensity of our sanctions. And the way to do this is to ensure that Russia's profits from oil sales remain contained. Our oil price cap has a built-in adjustment mechanism to follow the market. It was not made for market shocks like the one caused by the closure of the Strait in Hormuz. So we propose to simply pause the adjustment until January next year. This will give oil markets time to stabilise while preserving pressure on Russia's revenues. At the same time, we will continue targeting the shadow fleet. Today, we propose listing 30 more vessels on top of the 632 already sanctioned. For the first time, we are also targeting vessels that assist the shadow fleet – providing bunkering and other services for example. And we propose targeting critical infrastructure, such as ports, airports, refineries trading or processing Russian oil. Finally, we propose restricting the sale of LNG tankers to Russia, just as we already did for oil tankers.

Second, on financial and crypto restrictions. We are expanding our transaction bans to 31 more Russian banks. And to 20 banks, crypto firms or platforms and oil traders in third countries, ones that have been servicing sanctioned Russian entities and individuals or circumventing our measures. For the first time, we will introduce the possibility of a full third-country ban for crypto-asset services. It will act as a strong deterrent for the countries hosting platforms that help Russia evade our sanctions.

Third, on trade. We are putting forward new export restrictions on items and technologies used by Russia's military industry. For example, we are targeting more metals and alloys used in the aerospace and defence sectors. For drones, we propose new export bans on ground support equipment, and jamming and launch systems, among others. We also propose new import bans on a number of goods worth EUR 60 million. For example, it covers certain metals, metal ores or car parts. Because we want to lock in Europe's diversification away from Russian imports. And finally, we are addressing one of the last major unsanctioned sectors: fisheries. We propose substantial restrictions on imports on some fish products, and a complete ban on others, including cod. And we will be aligning trade restrictions for Belarus. So it cannot serve as a backdoor for Russian trade.

I also want to mention one key point of this new aspect. For the first time, we propose to ban from entry into the EU anyone who has served in the Russian Armed Forces since the beginning of the war. So, Europe stays off limits for anyone who has participated in the invasion of Ukraine. As simple as that.

And finally, at the same time, we provide relentless support to our brave neighbour, partner and future member of the European Union, Ukraine. Yesterday, we delivered almost EUR 3 billion from the Ukraine Facility. And still this month, we will issue the first disbursement under our EUR 90 billion loan to Ukraine. So by the end of the month, we will provide Ukraine with EUR 6 billion for drones and more than EUR 3 billion worth of macro-financial assistance. And of course, more disbursements will follow soon.

And to conclude: One thing I admire most about our Ukrainian friends is their unbreakable determination to belong to our European Union. That is impressive. They are delivering reform after reform while their cities are under attack. While the sky above them is filled with smoke. While air raid sirens echo across the country. Despite all this, they are making extraordinary progress. Clearly, Ukraine has delivered. So it is now high time for us to deliver as well. And we now have the historic opportunity to do so. In the next days, we will open the first cluster with Ukraine and Moldova. This basically opens the door to the next phase of the accession process: The formal start of accession negotiations. And I do not need to tell you that the Commission stands fully ready to support Ukraine on its path to our European Union where it belongs.

Thank you very much for your attention.