European Union member states reached an agreement on Thursday on a new sanctions package against Russia. The 21st sanctions package, adopted after weeks of negotiations, was approved with a narrower scope than earlier proposals due to objections from some members.
The new package, imposed in response to Russia's military operations in Ukraine that began in February 2022, preserves the existing price cap on Russian oil exports rather than tightening it. Diplomats said the sanctions package was delayed due to various concerns raised by EU governments.
The EU stated that despite the watered-down measures, the new sanctions aim to maintain economic and political pressure on Moscow and reaffirm support for Ukraine. As the war enters its fifth year, maintaining consensus within the 27-member bloc is proving increasingly difficult.
Lavrov warns US against arms shipments to Ukraine
Parallel to the sanctions decision, Russia warned the United States against continuing arms shipments to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held high-level talks in the Philippine capital, Manila.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, marked the first official contact between Lavrov and Rubio since September 2025. The meeting came at a time when Washington's diplomatic focus has shifted from mediating the war in Ukraine to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov told Rubio that U.S. military support for Ukraine was "unacceptable" and called on Washington to stop arms shipments to what he described as the "Kiev regime."
Lavrov also criticized European governments for pursuing a "destabilizing policy" aimed at inflicting a "strategic defeat" on Russia, while reiterating that Moscow remains open to a "political-diplomatic solution" to the conflict.
Since 2022, the EU has imposed numerous sanctions packages targeting Russia's financial sector, energy exports, defense industry, technology imports, and hundreds of individuals and entities linked to the Kremlin. These sanctions are considered one of the most comprehensive sanction regimes the bloc has ever imposed.
