The European Commission (EC) has begun work on the 17th sanctions package against Russia. This process is currently in its initial stages, and specific proposals may be presented in early summer, according to EUobserver, citing diplomatic sources in Europe.
This is reported by Finway
“We are waiting for proposals from the Commission,” said one of the sources of the publication.
Another diplomat emphasized that the EU’s foreign policy service and the Commission are working on this issue:
“Proposals are likely to be presented in early summer.”
It was also noted that it is important to consider the development of peace negotiations.
“We need to see how negotiations between the US, Russia, and Ukraine develop,”
remarked another interlocutor.
In particular, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has stated his willingness to discuss a temporary ceasefire only on the condition that the EU allows Rosselkhozbank, a key institution for food exports from the aggressor country, to return to the Belgian network of international payment systems, SWIFT.
However, at the “coalition of the willing” summit on March 27 in Paris, 31 European countries reaffirmed their position that it is still too early to lift sanctions against Russia. This was confirmed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“There is no sense in lifting sanctions until peace is actually achieved — and, unfortunately, we are still quite far from that,”
said Scholz in Paris.
Macron added that
“now is not the time to lift sanctions.”
Starmer noted that
“on the contrary, we discussed how we can strengthen sanctions in support of the US initiative to bring Russia to the negotiating table with further pressure from this group of countries. This means increasing economic pressure on Russia, accelerating new tough sanctions that reduce Russia’s income from energy resources.”
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU has already imposed 16 sanctions packages against the aggressor. The latest was adopted on February 24, 2025, on the third anniversary of the invasion, and affected 13 Russian banks. A ban on transactions for credit and financial organizations registered outside of Russia that use the Bank of Russia’s Financial Messaging System (SPFS) was also introduced.
Overall, the EU has closed access to SWIFT for 23 Russian banks, covering all major financial institutions except Gazprombank, which handles international gas transactions. Among other EU sanctions, the following can be highlighted:
- freezing of the Russian central bank’s assets amounting to over 200 billion euros;
- trade embargo with Russia amounting to 140 billion euros per year;
- personal sanctions against 2,400 Russian individuals and legal entities.