The EU continues to develop sanctions packages, despite the problems. What does this mean?

The European Union continues its sanctions policy against Russia. At the same time, the effectiveness of the new packages is decreasing, and their internal implications for the EU are intensifying discussions about the limits and future of this approach. So, Hungary decided to block the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions. Why Brussels continues to try to put economic pressure on Russia is in the Izvestia article.

Continuation of sanctions

• The European Union continues to introduce new sanctions packages against Russia, because this course has already become established as a standard line of conduct. Sanctions have become part of the EU's daily policy, and their extension or expansion is perceived as a technical continuation of earlier decisions. Abandoning sanctions would require admitting mistakes and reviewing the entire logic of previous steps. This is extremely difficult for the complex and multi-level EU system.

• In addition, the sanctions policy is also used as a way to preserve political unity within the union (we wrote about the main European contradictions here). Even with rising prices, declining competitiveness and a strain on budgets, demonstrating a common position remains a priority for Brussels. Sanctions allow us to show that the EU is able to act in a coordinated and consistent manner, without reducing policy to the interests of individual countries. However, some countries disagree with this. In particular, Budapest plans to block the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions due to Kiev's suspension of oil pumping through the Druzhba pipeline.

• The economic problems caused by sanctions are unevenly distributed among EU countries, so they do not always translate into general political pressure. In such circumstances, the introduction of new sanctions packages seems to be a less risky decision than an abrupt change of course and the search for an alternative strategy.

The fact of retaliation: Russia will respond to the 20th package of EU sanctions

A split is growing in Brussels over restrictive measures against Russia — how much does the union lose from this policy

The most affected

• The EU economy, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, lost 1.6 trillion euros in 2022-2025 due to sanctions against Russia. The energy sector suffered the most. The abandonment of Russian oil, gas and coal has led to an increase in energy prices and the need to quickly look for other suppliers. This increased the cost of electricity and heat, hit industry and increased the burden on the budgets of EU countries, which had to subsidize tariffs for households and businesses.

• The energy factor has become the basic one, as sanctions have affected almost all other industries through it. Germany suffered the most from the rejection of cheap gas, which caused a crisis in energy-intensive industries and an increase in bankruptcies. Thus, the state of German automobile concerns has been greatly shaken.

• The bilateral trade turnover in 2022-2024 decreased by more than 1.7 times, from €257.5 billion to €67.7 billion. In particular, the industry and the processing sector suffered serious losses. In some cases, companies have begun to shift production outside the EU.

Agriculture, transport and logistics were also significantly affected. The agricultural sector has faced rising prices for fertilizers and fuel, which has increased costs and reduced profitability. Transport companies have lost revenue due to the closure of routes and the increasing complexity of logistics chains between Europe and the East.

The limit of sanctions

• New sanctions have less and less impact on Russia and create more and more problems within the EU itself. Rising business costs, pressure on budgets and a slowdown in growth rates make further tightening of sanctions less and less economically rational.

• However, while most States are ready to maintain the common course, the sanctions policy continues. But as problems accumulate, disagreements intensify, as different countries feel the damage differently. As a result, the adoption of new packages becomes more difficult, requires compromises and exceptions.

What does this mean?

• If economic pressure increases and disagreements between member countries become more pronounced, sanctions policy will begin to adjust to these conditions. It is already clear that individual States are increasingly raising the issue of the relationship between political goals and economic losses.

• The inability of sanctions to achieve their stated goals also plays an important role. They are less and less perceived as an effective tool, and their consequences within the EU are becoming more tangible, and therefore the space for revision will expand.

• A complete cessation of the sanctions policy is possible only with mass protests and a sharp increase in internal instability. As long as the population tolerates a decline in living standards, the restrictive policy will continue. A revision of this course in the coming years is unlikely, as abandoning it may lead to personal responsibility for current managers.

When writing the material, Izvestia interviewed:

• political scientist Pavel Danilov;
• political scientist Vladimir Bruter.