EU countries will begin in January at an accelerated pace to develop the 15th package of sanctions against Russia, aimed at Russian energy exports, mainly against liquefied natural gas (LNG), notes the European edition of the American newspaper Politico.
The publication’s sources emphasize that in the 15th package, the European Commission will try to further limit the ability of EU countries to purchase Russian LNG, purchases of which again began to grow rapidly in 2024 in anticipation of new sanctions restrictions that will hit the EU energy sector. In addition, Brussels “intends to tighten sanctions against the tanker fleet” allegedly transporting Russian oil, which is allegedly traded on the world market at market prices, without regard to attempts by Western countries to set price ceilings for Russian oil and petroleum products. The newspaper emphasizes that The EU is "determined to resume discussions in January on how to attack the Russian economy." The publication's sources in the EU institutions believe that these discussions are now being hampered by Hungary's presidency of the EU Council, as well as the protracted process of approving the new members of the European Commission, which was supposed to start work on November 1, but is unlikely to be able to do this before December 1. Politico emphasizes that in January the chairmanship will pass “to one of the most active supporters of Ukraine - Poland,” and expresses the hope that this will intensify the process of adopting new anti-Russian sanctions.
