The European Union's member states agreed on Friday to extend sanctions on individuals related to Russia's war in Ukraine for another six months, Denmark acting as holder of the bloc's rotating presidency said in a post on X.
EU has listed over 2,500 entities and individuals as part of its Russia sanctions, which freezes bank accounts and bans travel into the EU. The rollover has sometimes been a fraught process with Hungary frequently making demands for delistings. In this instance, there were no political delistings, diplomats said.
Member states must unanimously agree to renew sanctions every six months. The EU uses two main sanctions frameworks against Moscow: one which targets a list of people and companies, and another comprising measures against sectors, such as a price cap on Russia's oil and the immobilization of its central bank's assets.
Also, Britain announced fresh sanctions against Russia, targeting military weapons, equipment suppliers and its shadow fleet as UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Kyiv.
Security analysts say Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of aging vessels is used by Moscow to circumvent international sanctions that ban it from selling oil.
"The UK continues to lead the charge against the shadow fleet carrying Russian oil exports. Today, 70 more ships in the fleet have been sanctioned. The UK has now targeted more oil tankers than any other country," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The fresh round of sanctions also hits 30 firms and individuals "propping up Russia's war machine by supplying key equipment such as electronics, chemicals and explosives used to manufacture missiles and other weapons systems,” it added.
