Council Approves 8th Round Of Sanctions, Including Oil Price Cap

The European Council has this morning approved the eighth round of sanctions to be imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. The raft of sanctions includes a cap on the price of Russian oil transported via sea in relation to third party countries.

• Statement from High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-rel...
• "It will be prohibited to provide maritime transport and to provide technical assistance, brokering services or financing or financial assistance, related to the maritime transport to third countries of crude oil (as of December 2022) or petroleum products (as of February 2023) which originate in or are exported from Russia. The price cap derogation would allow the provision of the transport and these services if the oil or petroleum products are purchased at or below a pre-established price cap. [...]"
• The latest package of sanctions is the most focused so far on third country actors. Previously measures almost totally focused on Russia, but now if third country actors transport sanctioned goods from the EU to Russia they could be placed on sanctions list themselves.