Autumn Marathon: EU may adopt 19th package of sanctions in October
The European Union wants to impose new sanctions against Russia every three months, sources in the European Parliament told Izvestia. The association intends to adhere to such a scheme until the settlement of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, but even after its end, Brussels is unlikely to lift restrictions soon. Thus, the new package of sanctions is likely to be adopted in October. Nevertheless, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that at such a pace it will be difficult for the countries of the association to stamp packages due to disagreements within the association. The situation is also complicated for the EU by the fact that almost all important industries for the Russian Federation are already under sanctions. What Brussels will be able to include in the potential 19th list is in the Izvestia article.
The EU will impose sanctions against Russia every three months.
Immediately after the EU adopted the 18th package of sanctions at the end of July, France announced work on new measures against Russia. According to the head of the republic's Foreign Ministry, Jean-Noel Barrault, they will be even tougher, and work on them is underway in coordination with the United States. The diplomat stressed that the new list should be adopted as soon as possible in order to "deplete the Russian military economy."
The next package of sanctions may come into force as early as October, Izvestia found out.
— After 3.5 years of military operations, we have introduced the 18th package of sanctions. There will be a new package of restrictions every three months until Russia stops its aggression," said Tomasz Zdechowski, a member of the European Parliament.
— The adoption of the 19th package is possible as early as October. Although these restrictions have no effect on the Russian Federation. In addition, sanctions are becoming, in fact, a provocation not only against Russia, but also against all countries of the world that are not part of the so-called collective West and that cooperate with Moscow. That is, it is obvious that the sanctions irritate, for example, banks and transport companies from China and other countries," MEP Ivan David told Izvestia.
At the same time, as noted in the European Parliament, Brussels is unlikely to stop imposing restrictions even after the end of the conflict in Ukraine.
— I am sure that there will be new measures. On the one hand, there is the United States, which is interested in peace, and on the other, the EU, which wants to continue the conflict. New sanctions may well be introduced in October. The EU is addicted to them, just as there are people addicted to alcohol or drugs. This is a kind of desire for retribution," said MEP Thierry Mariani.
For a long time, the EU countries could not agree on the adoption of the 18th package of restrictions, which, among other things, included new restrictions on Russian oil. Hungary and Slovakia opposed it, since it would be unprofitable for these countries to abandon the use of energy resources from the Russian Federation. Malta also turned out to be against it, which claims that sanctions against Russian oil may affect its interests as a country specializing in maritime transportation.
In seven months of 2025, the EU approved three packages of anti-Russian sanctions, three packages were also introduced in 2024 and 2023, and nine in 2022.
In response to the 18th list, Russia banned a number of Western citizens from entering the country. The restrictions include representatives of European law enforcement agencies and residents of EU countries who support Ukraine, conduct activities aimed at undermining the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and block the movement of Russian ships and cargo in the Baltic Sea, as well as individual activists and politicians.
Meanwhile, Moscow has repeatedly spoken about the ineffectiveness of Western restrictive measures against our country. "The more sanctions there are, the worse it is for those who impose these sanctions. This also applies to France, and it applies to the economy of Europe as a whole," Vladimir Putin said at the end of June 2025.
Since 2022, Russia has managed to reorient its trade relations to friendly countries. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, the share of trade with them has increased from 46% to 82% in three years. These include China, India, the States of Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
How else can the West limit Russia
According to experts, it will be extremely difficult for the European Union to agree on a new package every three months.
— The most painful areas for Russia have already been sanctioned. We are talking about energy, high technologies and calculations. What the EU is doing now is partly a desire to portray and simulate activities instead of acting," says Valdai expert Stanislav Tkachenko.
Nevertheless, the EU may focus on tightening control over the restrictions already imposed. This will allow European politicians to create the media appearance of active pressure on the Russian Federation, despite the fact that the new measures are unlikely to cause serious damage to the Russian economy.
According to international expert Polina Chupriyanova, personal sanctions may expand. In addition, new secondary restrictions are likely regarding Russian business partners abroad. The European Union is constantly trying to expand the list of companies that, according to its information, help the Russian Federation. In addition, in the 18th package, the EU lowered the ceiling on Russian oil prices from $60 to $47.6 per barrel. It is possible that in the future Brussels will reconsider the price again. It is also possible to expand the number of banks that will be subject to a ban on using SWIFT services and restrictions on transactions.
According to Sergey Tereshkin, CEO of Open Oil Market, the oil ceiling is the most "non—working" type of sanctions among all the restrictions that were introduced after 2022. The key impact on its compliance is not the restrictions of the EU and the G7 countries, but the fundamental factors of the oil market: Urals price dynamics generally repeat the dynamics of Brent prices adjusted for a discount of $ 10-12 per barrel. The Urals price drops below $60 when the Brent price is below $70.
As for banks, the vast majority of large Russian credit institutions, which account for over 75% of the system's assets, have long been under restrictions. Therefore, the new restrictions mainly affect small financial structures.
At the same time, serious difficulties may arise within the EU when agreeing on a new package, given the differences on sensitive issues, especially in the energy sector. For example, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had previously warned that EU sanctions against Russia in this area should be lifted because Brussels' policy on this issue "put the EU in a difficult position." Europe, in particular, is currently running out of diesel fuel, as it is better to produce it from heavy Russian oil rather than from shale oil, which comes from the United States. In addition, the head of the Slovak government, Robert Fico, previously called unacceptable possible EU sanctions against Russia's nuclear industry — Bratislava promised to block them.
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