Sweden proposes to impose sanctions against Moscow's oil fleet and LNG

The next package of EU sanctions should include steps against the shadow fleet of tankers transporting Russian oil to circumvent sanctions, as well as a ban on liquefied natural gas.

This was stated by Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, Reuters reports.

"Adopting the 14th sanctions package is one of the most important things. We will see to it that we both include an import ban on liquefied natural gas as well as measures to curb the Russian shadow fleet," Billstrom said upon arrival at the meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Discussions on the 14th package of sanctions are at an early stage and it will not be adopted at the meeting in Luxembourg.

As previously stated by European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, the sanctions package will include a wide range of restrictive measures with a strong emphasis on combating circumvention – for example, in the maritime sector, as Russia continues to try to violate the price cap on oil exports.

The price cap, imposed by the G7 countries, the European Union, and Australia, prohibits the use of Western maritime services such as insurance, labeling, and transportation when tankers carry Russian oil at $60 per barrel or higher. The West introduced this mechanism after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Since October, the United States has reinforced the price restrictions through sanctions, including the inclusion of Sovcomflot, Russia's state-owned shipping company, on the sanctions list in February.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 22/04/2024