EU prepares sanctions on 80 Russian entities

For Serbia, which maintains a policy of military neutrality and refuses to join sanctions against Moscow, every fresh move by Brussels against the Russian economy is another test of Belgrade’s European path. EU High Representative Kaja Kallas announced in Brussels that the Union is preparing a new sanctions package aimed at 80 Russian entities and individuals, pushing the sanctions regime against Moscow to limits that would have seemed unthinkable three years ago.

Kallas specified that the main targets of the new wave are not primarily banks or energy giants, which earlier measures have already hit hard, but three specific groups: the military-industrial complex supplying the front in Ukraine, individuals responsible for human rights violations, and a network of propagandists close to the Kremlin. With this shift, the Union’s sanctions tool moves away from broad macroeconomic pressure toward a targeted strike on the apparatus that enables the war and justifies it in public.

How much have sanctions really cost Russia?

According to the High Representative, the cumulative damage to the Russian economy since the start of the sanctions effort is estimated at around 1.5 trillion dollars. That figure covers lost revenue, frozen assets, severed trade channels and the cost of circumventing existing restrictions. Kallas presented the estimate as evidence that the pressure is working and that the Union does not intend to ease off, despite signs of fatigue among some member states.

The new package comes shortly after the 20th sanctions package, adopted earlier this year. The pace at which Brussels rolls out new rounds shows that sanctions policy has become a permanent feature of EU-Russia relations rather than an emergency instrument. Each new package, however, finds it harder to identify fresh targets that have not already been hit, so the focus naturally shifts toward narrower and more precisely defined groups, such as propagandists and individual actors within the defence industry.

In parallel with the announcement from Brussels, the United Kingdom has opened an investigation into a tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a network of vessels carrying Russian oil while bypassing the price cap and restrictions. London suspects that the vessel in question breached the oil export sanctions, illustrating how difficult it is to close every channel through which Moscow still exports energy.

What does the package mean for the EU and its members?

Kallas’s announcement also raises the question of internal cohesion, since every sanctions package must be approved unanimously by all member states. While measures targeting the military industry and propagandists usually meet less resistance than those touching energy, the adoption process is never automatic. The diplomatic channel between Brussels and individual capitals remains where the fate of a package is actually decided.

For southeastern Europe, and Serbia in particular, such moves carry indirect consequences. The tougher and more comprehensive the sanctions regime, the greater the pressure on candidate countries to align their foreign policy with the Union’s positions. Belgrade has balanced that demand against its ties with Moscow for years, and each new package narrows the room for neutrality a little further.

Will the Union manage to preserve its unity on sanctions once the front-line and energy targets are exhausted?