EU Plans 'Massive Sanctions' On Russia Amid Growing Pressure to Act Tougher

The EU is readying a fresh round of sanctions against Russia after leaders threatened Moscow with "massive" economic punishment for not agreeing a ceasefire in Ukraine.

But after 17 packages of sanctions since the Kremlin's 2022 invasion, is there much more the bloc can do?

Story so far?

Since Russian tanks rolled over Ukraine's border some three years ago, the EU has sought to hurt Moscow's war effort with unprecedented sanctions.

Those range from visa bans and asset freezes on over 2,400 individuals and entities, including President Vladimir Putin, to an almost-complete ban on importing Russian crude oil, and freezing over 200 billion euros of its central bank assets.

A 17th round of sanctions was adopted on Tuesday blacklisting some 200 tankers in the "shadow fleet" used by Moscow to circumvent restrictions on oil exports.

All this punishment has not collapsed Russia's economy or made its fearsome military machine grind to a halt.

But officials insist it is having a painful impact on the Kremlin.

"Russia's economy is not doing well," said EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas.

"Now they cannot even cover it up with the propaganda anymore, and they are saying that it is in stagnation."

Critics -- particularly in hawkish countries close to Russia -- complain that the sanctions are leaky and components used by Moscow's military still manage to reach Russia.

As Putin stalls on Ukraine peace efforts, Brussels is already working on an 18th round of sanctions.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the measures would notably target the defunct Baltic Sea gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2, to pre-empt any attempt to bring them back online.

The new sanctions would also seek to list more shadow fleet vessels, lower the price cap set on Russian oil, and slap additional measures on Russia's financial sector, she said.

But anything 'massive'?

For now, these hardly seem the "massive" measures promised that could force Putin to play ball.

Diplomats insist there remain major pressure points where the EU could hit Russia.

"Energy, energy, energy," said one senior official when asked how to make Moscow pay attention.

"We have to go bold," agreed a second EU diplomat. "There's enough air still in the balloon that we can use."

Measures mentioned include rushing forward plans to end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, targeting Moscow's state nuclear giant Rosatom and further stifling oil exports.

But many of these sanctions have been proposed -- and rejected -- already as different member states have issued vetoes.

Diplomats have complained it is becoming increasingly difficult to agree on areas to hit Moscow, a task made even tougher by the growing stubbornness of Russia-friendly Hungary.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Tuesday called for a reduction in an oil price cap to 30 dollars a barrel, but that is a measure that needs to be agreed by the G7 group of leading nations.

There have also been calls for the EU to seize Russia's frozen central bank assets, mainly held in Belgium, but that has faced opposition from a raft of countries.

Looking at Trump?

Part of the motivation for European leaders to threaten Russia with major sanctions -- in step with the UK which unveiled new measures this week -- appears to have been to get US President Donald Trump to follow suit.

That appears to have failed, as Trump sidestepped the issue after a two-hour call this week with Putin that did not yield a ceasefire.

US Senator Lindsey Graham has put forward a proposal in Congress that could see 500-percent tariffs slapped on countries buying oil from Russia.

For now that effort is on hold -- but it has drawn interest from some in Europe as a potential model for action.

EU diplomats say however that such a move is not envisioned on their side at the moment.

Hungary looming?

Weakening the EU's position is the possibility that Hungary could refuse to extend the bloc's entire battery of sanctions on Russia when they come up for renewal later in the year.

Diplomats say work is going on to come up with alternatives to keep the sanctions in force.

That could involve getting individual countries to transpose sanctions onto their own law books or turning them into trade measures that Budapest cannot veto.

But for now Brussels is keeping mum on its plans.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)