As the Financial Times has learned, official Brussels wants to propose lowering the "price ceiling" for Russian oil from $60 to $45 per barrel and banning the use of Nord Stream infrastructure as part of the 18th package of sanctions against Russia.
Points of attention
- Discussions are ongoing to reach an agreement on the sanctions package by the end of July, despite potential complications.
- Brussels aims to secure support from all EU member states for the sanctions proposal, with a focus on protecting assets frozen in Belgium from potential lawsuits.
What is known about the European Union's plans?
According to journalists, the EU executive body intends to prohibit members of the bloc from using any Russian energy infrastructure.
There is also a high probability of expanding the list of sanctioned Russian banks and vessels of the shadow fleet, which Russia uses to circumvent EU restrictions.
Moreover, EU members are actively discussing guarantees that will help protect Belgium, where 190 billion euros of Russian central bank assets are frozen.
What is important to understand is that it is threatened with lawsuits from Russia, in accordance with the bilateral investment treaty between the two countries.
The European Commission's sanctions proposal must be supported by all EU member states. However, Slovakia and Hungary have previously said they may oppose additional sanctions, potentially complicating negotiations.
Despite this, EU members are still optimistic about reaching an agreement on the sanctions package by the end of July.
The thing is that Brussels was still able to convince Budapest to abandon blocking the previous sanctions packages.
