Indian entities on latest EU sanctions package on Russia

The European Commission has proposed its 21st package of sanctions on Russia which also includes Indian entities. The sanctions need to be approved by member states before they are finalised.

The proposed package focuses on energy, crypto and financial services and trade, including fisheries, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said. The sanctions would also ban the entry of former Russian combatants into the EU.

“Brick by brick, we are collapsing the foundations of Russia’s war economy,” the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on social media site X.

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“The new listings will cover more than 30 designations in the drones manufacturing as well as new export control measures on 50 companies, including entities based in China, Türkiye, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, UAE and India,” Ms. Kallas wrote.

This is not the first time Indian entities have found themselves on a EU sanctions list. However, the news comes as Brussels and New Delhi are in the implementation phase of a trade agreement that was announced in February.

The sanctions add 30 vessels to the existing 632 sanctioned ships in the so called “shadow fleet” of Russia — vessels transporting Russian oil and petroleum products and circumventing Western sanctions. The package also expands sanctions to cover 31 more Russian banks, 20 banks, crypto-related entities and oil traders in third countries. It also introduces an export ban on equipment used to support drones and metals and alloys used in defence and aerospace.