They collectively put in place European Union (EU) restrictive measures such as travel bans, asset freezes and trade restrictions in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
The most recent measures have had more specific aims, namely to:
- cut massive sources of revenue, in order to diminish Russia’s ability to finance and continue the war;
- impose relevant economic and political costs on Russia’s political establishment, which is responsible for the invasion; and
- tackle the circumventing of sanctions by strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation with non-EU countries, and providing them with technical assistance.

KEY POINTS

The original sanctions on Russia, which date from 2014, have been amended multiple times, for example to update lists of persons or to prolong sanctions.
Since Russia’s decision in February 2022 to recognise non-government-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine as independent entities and its subsequent invasion of Ukraine, the EU has adopted the largest ever set of restrictive measures, in a series of decisions comprising 11 packages and targeting several sectors of Russia’s economy and persons supporting Russia’s war of aggression.

Targeted sanctions

The EU has put in place various types of sanctions with different targets and objectives. These include the following.

Individual sanctions targeting individuals, entities and bodies who have, among other things, committed actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. These sanctions include:

freezing assets held in the EU;
prohibiting EU citizens and companies from making funds available;
banning the travel of individuals, preventing them from entering or transiting through EU territories;
a unique listing criterion targeting non-EU persons or entities facilitating infringements of the prohibition against circumvention of EU sanctions by persons or entities.

The lists of individuals, bodies and entities are updated regularly. They have also been expanded to include some Russian-controlled entities based in illegally annexed Crimea and Sevastopol.

Economic sanctions with specific targets include the following.

The financial sector, including:
- significant restrictions on Russia’s access to EU capital market and services;
- disconnecting key Russian banks from the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system;
- a ban on providing any credit-rating services, crypto assets, advice on trusts and financial assistance for trade or investment, and a full transaction ban on key Russian banks;
- prohibiting EU nationals from holding any posts in the governing bodies of all Russian state-owned or -controlled legal persons, entities or bodies established in Russia;
- prohibiting Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia from holding any posts in the governing bodies of the owners/operators of critical infrastructure*, European critical infrastructure* and critical entities.
The energy sector, including bans on:
- Russian coal and other solid fossil fuels;
- the import, purchase and transfer from Russia of crude oil and refined petroleum products, above a fixed price known as the oil price cap (with limited temporary exceptions for certain heavily dependent EU Member States);
- the export of jet fuel to Russia;
- new investments in the Russian mining sector;
- providing gas storage capacity to Russian nationals, a natural person residing in Russia or a legal person, entity or body established in Russia.
Airspace, maritime and road transport, including:
- a ban on exports, sales, supply or transfer of all aircraft, aircraft parts and equipment, along with goods used in the aviation sector, to Russia;
- closure of EU airspace to all Russian-owned, -registered or -controlled aircraft, including private jets of oligarchs;
- a ban on the export of maritime navigation goods and radio communication technology to Russia;
- a ban on Russian vessels accessing EU ports or locks;
- a ban on Russian or Belarusian road transport operators entering the EU;
- a ban on transactions with the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping;
- a ban on landing, taking off from or overflying EU territory for both manned and unmanned Russian aircraft;
- a ban on direct exports of drone engines to Russia;
- an obligation for aircraft operators of non-scheduled flights between Russia and the EU, operated directly by or via a non-EU country, to notify all relevant information concerning the flight to their competent authorities prior to their operation, and at least 48 hours in advance.
Export control and export financing, including:
- a comprehensive export restriction on equipment, technology and services for the energy industry in Russia (with some exceptions);
- a restriction on the export of euro-denominated banknotes and the sale of euro-denominated transferable securities;
- a restriction on items that may contribute to Russia’s military and technological, defence and security sectors.
Arms embargo:
- a prohibition on selling, supplying, transferring or exporting arms and related materiel of all types to Russia;
- export bans on civilian firearms;
- a prohibition on transit via the Russian territory of firearms, their parts and essential components, and ammunition exported from the EU.
Dual-use goods and advanced technology items:
- export prohibitions for dual-use goods, and other advanced goods and technology, which might contribute to Russia’s technological enhancement of its defence and security sector;
- expanded list of restricted items: drone engines, further chemical and biological equipment, riot control agents and electronic components, generators, toy drones, laptops, hard drives, IT components, night-vision and radio-navigation equipment, cameras, lenses, rare earths and compounds, electronic integrated circuits and thermographic cameras;
- the EU’s 11th package of economic and individual restrictive measures, adopted on 23 June 2023, further extended the list to items that could contribute to technologically enhancing Russia’s defence and security sector – this list now covers electronic components, semiconductor materials, manufacturing and testing equipment for electronic integrated circuits and printed circuit boards, precursors to energetic materials and precursors to chemical weapons, optical components, navigational instruments, metals used in the defence sector and marine equipment;
- a prohibition on transit via the territory of Russia of dual-use goods and technology exported from the EU to minimise the risk of EU sanctions being circumvented, along with goods and technology that may contribute to Russia’s military and technological enhancement or to the development of the defence or security sector, goods and technology suited for use in the aviation or space industries, and jet fuel and fuel additives exported from the EU to non-EU countries;
- the June 2023 package also added 87 entities to the list of those directly supporting Russia’s military and industrial complex in its war of aggression against Ukraine – the list now includes entities in non-EU countries producing and exporting drones to Russia, along with others involved in circumventing sanctions and supplying electronic components to Russia.
Trade restrictions and bans on goods including iron, steel, coal, cement, bitumen and asphalt, carbon and synthetic rubber, seafood, Russian-origin gold and other luxury goods.
An export ban on products in areas where Russia has a high dependency on the EU (including semiconductors, sensitive machinery, transportation and chemicals).
A prohibition on providing accounting, auditing, statutory audit, bookkeeping and tax consulting services, business and management consulting, public relations services, architectural and engineering services, IT consultancy services and legal advisory services to the Russian government, and also to legal persons, entities or bodies established in Russia.
A prohibition on the provision of advertising, market research and public opinion polling services, along with product testing and technical inspection services.
A prohibition on the transport of goods into the EU by road to trailers and semi-trailers registered in Russia, including when hauled by trucks registered outside of Russia.
A prohibition on access to EU ports and locks to any vessels that engage in ship-to-ship transfers, if the competent authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that the vessel is either in breach of the ban on importing seaborne Russian crude oil and petroleum products into the EU or transporting Russian crude oil or petroleum products purchased above the price cap agreed by the Price Cap Coalition.
An import ban on goods from areas of Ukraine not under government control, including the oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, and from illegally annexed Crimea and Sevastopol.

A circumvention tool was introduced as part of the June 2023 sanctions package to address the growing circumventing of EU sanctions. To deprive Russia of the resources that allow it to pursue its war of aggression against Ukraine, the tool takes the form of taking appropriate individual measures addressing the involvement of non-EU country operators in facilitating circumvention. Thereafter, where substantial and systemic circumvention persists, the EU has the possibility to take exceptional, last resort measures. When this arises, the Council of the European Union may unanimously decide to restrict the sale, supply, transfer or export of goods and technology the export of which to Russia is already prohibited to non-EU countries whose jurisdiction is demonstrated to be at a continuing and particularly high risk of being used for circumvention.

Restrictions on Russian media including the suspension of transmission, distribution and broadcasting for a number of Russian state-owned entities in order to curb systematic propaganda, media manipulation and disinformation. The June 2023 sanctions package suspended the broadcasting licences of five further organisations for their continuous and concerted propaganda actions targeted at EU civil society and neighbouring countries, gravely distorting and manipulating facts.

Sanctions on Belarus in view of the situation in that country and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine (see summary).

Sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities in view of their role in the development and delivery of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. On 20 July 2023, the Council established a new framework for restrictive measures in view of Iran’s military support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which prohibits the export from the EU to Iran of components used in the construction and production of UAVs and provides for travel restrictions and asset-freezing measures that could be imposed against persons responsible for, supporting or involved in Iran’s UAV programme. This new regime complements the three previously adopted packages of drone-related sanctions targeting individuals and entities.

Diplomatic measures such as the suspension of visa-free travel for diplomats and visa facilitation for service passport holders and businesspeople.

Exemptions

To safeguard global food and energy security, sanctions do not target Russia’s exports of agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers, or supply of oil and petroleum products to non-EU countries.
The assets of certain individuals who held a significant role in international trade in agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers, prior to their listing, can be unfrozen; funds and economic resources can also be made available to them.
EU sanctions do not prevent non-EU countries and their nationals outside of the EU from purchasing pharmaceutical or medical products from Russia.
An ‘emergency clause’ allows the transport of oil beyond the price cap, the provision of technical assistance, brokering or financing services, or financial assistance related to the transport to non-EU countries, to urgently prevent or mitigate events likely to have a serious impact on human health and safety or the environment, or as a response to natural disasters.

Annexes to the various decisions and regulations include lists of the individuals, entities and bodies, along with the goods and technology impacted by the restrictive measures.

FROM WHEN DO THE DECISIONS AND THE REGULATIONS APPLY?

Decision 2014/119/CFSP and Regulation (EU) No 208/2014 have applied since 6 March 2014.

Decision 2014/145/CFSP and Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 have applied since 17 March 2014.

Decision 2014/386/CFSP and Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 have applied since 25 June 2014.

Decision 2014/512/CFSP and Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 have applied since 1 August 2014.

Decision (CFSP) 2022/266 and Regulation (EU) 2022/263 have applied since 24 February 2022.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

EU–Ukraine relations – factsheet (European External Action Service)
EU sanctions against Russia over Ukraine (Council of the European Union)
EU sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine – factsheet (European Commission)
EU restrictive measures against Russia over Ukraine (since 2014) (Council of the European Union)
EU response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Council of the European Union)
Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine (European External Action Service).

KEY TERMS

Critical infrastructure. An asset, a facility, equipment, a network or a system, or a part of an asset, a facility, equipment, a network or a system, that is necessary for the provision of an essential service.

European critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructures the disruption or destruction of which would significantly affect two or more Member States, or a single Member State if the critical infrastructure is located in another Member State. This includes effects resulting from cross-sector dependencies on other types of infrastructure.

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Council Decision 2014/119/CFSP of 5 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Ukraine (OJ L 66, 6.3.2014, pp. 26–30).

Successive amendments to Decision 2014/119/CFSP have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Council Regulation (EU) No 208/2014 of 5 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Ukraine (OJ L 66, 6.3.2014, pp. 1–10).

See consolidated version.

Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ L 78, 17.3.2014, pp. 16–21).

See consolidated version.

Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine (OJ L 78, 17.3.2014, pp. 6–15).

See consolidated version.

Council Decision 2014/386/CFSP of 23 June 2014 concerning restrictions on goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol, in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol (OJ L 183, 24.6.2014, pp. 70–71).

See consolidated version.

Council Regulation (EU) No 692/2014 of 23 June 2014 concerning restrictions on the import into the Union of goods originating in Crimea or Sevastopol, in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol (OJ L 183, 24.6.2014, pp. 9–14).

See consolidated version.

Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (OJ L 229, 31.7.2014, pp. 13–17).

See consolidated version.

Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 of 31 July 2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine (OJ L 229, 31.7.2014, pp. 1–11).

See consolidated version.

Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/266 of 23 February 2022 concerning restrictive measures in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas (OJ L 42 I, 23.2.2022, pp. 109–113).

See consolidated version.

Council Regulation (EU) 2022/263 of 23 February 2022 concerning restrictive measures in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas (OJ L 42 I, 23.2.2022, pp. 77–94).

See consolidated version.

Title and reference

EU restrictive measures in view of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

SUMMARY OF:

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DECISIONS AND THE REGULATIONS?

KEY POINTS

FROM WHEN DO THE DECISIONS AND THE REGULATIONS APPLY?

BACKGROUND

KEY TERMS

MAIN DOCUMENTS

RELATED DOCUMENTS