EU Agrees New Russia Sanctions Over Ukraine War

The EU on Wednesday agreed to impose new sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine aimed at crimping Moscow's oil and gas revenues, said Denmark, which holds the EU's rotating presidency. 

The package -- the 19th from the EU since the Kremlin's 2022 invasion -- comes as Europe seeks to keep the pressure on Russia in the face of US President Donald Trump's faltering peace push. 

Kremlin-friendly Slovakia had held up adoption of the package over a separate issue as it sought protections for its car industry from EU climate legislation. 

As part of the new measures, the 27-nation bloc is bringing forward a ban on the import of liquefied natural gas from Russia by a year to the start of 2027. 

It is also blacklisting over 100 more tankers from the so-called "shadow fleet" of ageing vessels used to help Russia dodge restrictions on its oil exports. 

Beyond efforts to hit Moscow's revenues, the EU was also looking to crack down on Russian diplomats suspected of espionage by imposing controls on their travel around Europe. 

Those new measures mean that Russian diplomats have to inform the authorities in countries where they are stationed of any travel abroad. 

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico agreed to drop his opposition to the sanctions on Wednesday after claiming to get adequate assurances on the car industry. 

The package will be formally adopted tomorrow, just before Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky joins EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.  

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