The EU Parliamentary Research Service has published an updated briefing on the EU’s sanctions against Russia. The previous briefing had been published in September 2023.
The key elements of this update are:
- a revised timeline listing the major geopolitical events that led to the imposition of the sanctions, with links to the respective sanctions packages enacted in response
- a summary of the successive waves of restrictive measures imposed against Russia, certain Russian political elites and key economic sectors
- a description of the anti-circumvention measures taken to date with a view to addressing sanctions evasion, facilitated by the complexity of the global supply chains, and a list of countries identified as evasion hubs, including India, Sri Lanka, China, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Türkiye
- statistics on the impact of sanctions on the EU-Russia trade, and on the Russian economy. In a nutshell:
- EU-Russia trade underwent a 75% decline since 2022, with Russia dropping from 5th to 15th trade partner to the EU
- In Russia, the Rouble remains unstable, and inflation continues to rise – it was at 9,5% in December 2024
- a description of 2024 initiatives aimed at
- further strengthening the pressure imposed on Russia, notably by addressing its repeated violations of human rights and political interference efforts; and
- reinforcing and further harmonizing the EU’s enforcement arsenal with Directive (EU) 2024/1226, which requires sanctions violation and circumvention to be categorized as criminal offences across the EU, and provides for minimum penalties
- a preview of potential future actions, aimed at further tightening the grip on Russia. Targeted areas could be:
- additional sanctions on the energy sector
- further import bans notably of Russian aluminium and nickel, as well as of additional categories of iron and steel products
- professional services involved in the trade for battlefield equipment, including financial services
- increased coordination and streamlining of cross-EU enforcement efforts, leveraging existing frameworks or creating a EU OFAC-like institution
