EU chief urges bloc members to sanction Russia's LNG exports

BRUSSELS: The European Union should slap new sanctions on Russia's exports of liquefied natural gas, its shadow fleet of aging oil tankers and major energy companies over its war on Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

"It is time to turn off the tap" on LNG, von der Leyen said in a video statement outlining her commission's new sanctions proposals. They must be endorsed by the 27 EU countries before they can enter force.

"I now call on member states to quickly endorse these new sanctions. We want Russia to leave the battlefield and come to the negotiation table, and this is the way to give peace a real chance," she said.

The bloc has already agreed on 18 packages of sanctions against Russia, but getting final agreement on who and what to target can take weeks.

More than 2,500 "entities" including banks, ministries, energy companies and officials have already been hit.

The officials include President Vladimir Putin and his associates, scores of Russian lawmakers and several oligarchs. Travel bans and asset freezes are the most common measures.

Energy revenue is the linchpin of Russia's economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.

Von der Leyen insisted that EU sanctions are having an impact. "Russia's overheated war economy is coming to its limit," she said, noting in particular constant high inflation in Russia.

In a separate statement, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the aim is to usher in "a full prohibition of Russian LNG imports by January 2027".

Europe is the biggest buyer of Russia's LNG cargoes, taking about half of what Russia exports. Russian LNG took up about 16% of the EU's total LNG imports last year. EU members Hungary and Slovakia have opposed any phase out and could pose an obstacle to the sanctions move.

The commission also proposed targeting 118 additional vessels from Russia's shadow fleet of ships transporting oil, bringing the total hit to over 560.

"Major energy trading companies Rosneft and Gazprom Neft will now be on a full transaction ban, and other companies will also come under an asset freeze" if the measures are endorsed, the head of the EU's executive branch also said.

Part of the plan would be to go "after those who fuel Russia's war by purchasing oil in breach of the sanctions," she said. Von der Leyen said that the commission wants to "target refineries, oil traders, petrochemical companies and third countries including China".

The sanctions would also include export restrictions on "items and technologies" that can be used on the battlefield. A further 45 companies in Russia and elsewhere would be hit, for "providing direct or indirect support to the Russian military industrial complex", the commission president said.

Kallas added that another idea is to make it easier to go after people involved in abducting Ukrainian children. Russia has faced international condemnation over the deportation of Ukrainian families, including many children, since 2022.

"Tearing children from their families and deporting them to re-education camps is beyond description. We will not let Russia weaponise childhood itself," Kallas said in a post on social media.