EU adopts 14th package of Russia sanctions

The EU has adopted the 14th package of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine that started in February 2022, the bloc's council announced on Monday.

"The Council adopted today a 14th package of economic and individual restrictive measures dealing a further blow to Putin’s regime and those who perpetuate his illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine," it said in a statement.

The sanctions, the statement said, will hit high-value sectors of the Russian economy such as energy, finance and trade, and make it even more difficult to circumvent EU sanctions.

The package includes restrictive measures on an additional 116 individuals and entities "responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

The package prohibits all future investments in, and exports to, LNG projects under construction in Russia.

The 27-member bloc also introduced a ban on EU banks outside Russia from using the financial messaging system SPFS (the System for Transfer of Financial Messages), which is the Russian equivalent of SWIFT.