Preliminary disagreement: adoption of the 21st package of EU sanctions has stalled
The European Union did not have time to agree on the next list of anti-Russian restrictions before the end of Cyprus' presidency of the EU Council. A new attempt to approve the 21st package is likely to take place at a meeting of the EU Council on Foreign Affairs on July 13. The draft sanctions are currently being discussed at the technical and diplomatic levels, a European source told Izvestia. However, Bulgaria opposed certain provisions. Slovakia will support only those measures that do not harm its interests, said Deputy Speaker of the country's parliament Tibor Gaspar. Experts believe that the adoption of the 21st list of restrictions may take a long time, but in any case it will not have a significant impact on the Russian economy.
The position of the EU countries on the 21st package of sanctions
The adoption of the next 21st package of anti-Russian restrictions is being delayed. It began to be prepared back in April, and was planned to be adopted before the end of Cyprus' presidency of the EU Council at the end of June, Izvestia previously wrote.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev (left) talks with President of the European Council Antonio Costa during a round table at the EU summit in Brussels, June 18, 2026.
The EC officially submitted the draft sanctions to the EU ambassadors on June 9. However, it was not possible to approve it at the EU summit on June 18-19 due to Bulgaria's veto. Prime Minister Rumen Radev said at the time that Sofia was unhappy with the sanctions against Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and businessman Vagit Alekperov. The idea of banning participants and veterans from entering the European Union was criticized by the authorities of Italy and France due to fears that it would lead to the termination of the tourist flow from the Russian Federation, Bloomberg wrote.
The list of dissatisfied countries may increase. Slovakia is currently negotiating a new package of sanctions against Russia and will form its position after their completion, Deputy Speaker of the country's parliament Tibor Gaspar told Izvestia.
"The Slovak Republic considers proposals for sanctions packages on an individual basis and supports only those measures that are effective, coordinated and at the same time do not disproportionately harm the legitimate interests of the Slovak Republic," the politician noted.
Last year, Bratislava blocked the approval of the 18th and 19th restriction packages and lifted its veto only after guarantees in the energy sector from Brussels. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stressed that he would block sanctions that harm the republic.
Alice Kazelko, a member of the Export Control Association of the Russian Federation, an expert at Valdai, noted in an interview with Izvestia that negotiations on the 21st package will be held under the Irish presidency of the EU Council from July 1. In her opinion, European countries will try to approve sanctions again by July 15, since by that date the union should review the ceiling on prices for Russian oil. At the same time, Dublin fully follows the anti-Russian policy and it is unlikely that any changes can be expected from its presidency.
The next meeting of the EU Council on Foreign Affairs is scheduled for July 13. A European diplomatic source told Izvestia that the 21st package of sanctions is being discussed at both the technical and diplomatic levels, but an exact date for its adoption has not yet been set.
Small European countries and a significant part of the Central and Eastern European states are actively advocating new restrictions against Russia. However, there is no necessary unanimity on this issue, so the timing of the adoption of a new package of sanctions may shift, said Egor Sergeev, senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
At the same time, it is important to understand that Brussels has always sought approval of anti-Russian measures one way or another. In particular, the EC exerted pressure on the dissenting countries, threatening them with termination of financing. So, Brussels has already frozen money for Hungary under Viktor Orban, justifying this by the level of corruption in the country and compliance with the "rule of law."
What kind of restrictions are Brussels preparing against Russia
The head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, previously called the 21st package "the largest in two years", it should include 170 items. However, they do not contain radically new mechanisms, Ekaterina Arapova, a leading researcher and head of the research program at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia. In particular, the EC proposes to disconnect 31 Russian banks from the SWIFT system, as well as 20 banks, crypto platforms and oil traders in third countries, but these measures will not have a global impact, Arapova stressed.
A potential topic of the new package could be a ban on the provision of services for the maritime transportation of Russian oil. The EC initially planned to get this measure approved as part of the 20th package, but then abandoned this idea. According to Ekaterina Arapova, the damage to the EU itself from such restrictions may be significant, especially for Greece, Malta and Cyprus. Therefore, even if the maritime ban is approved, long-term exceptions or a delayed implementation period are possible for individual countries.
The EU also continues its policy of reducing trade with Russia. For example, exports of high-performance alloys and nickel powders, as well as precious metal ores and chemicals, will be banned. The European Commission also proposes to abandon the import of certain types of fish from Russia, in particular cod. The German press openly warns about the risks for local companies and the threat of rising prices for familiar food products.
The new sanctions package includes a ban on entry to the EU for participants and veterans of their military operations. However, it is not yet clear exactly how it will be implemented. Izvestia previously wrote that the EU is also discussing the complete cessation of issuing tourist visas outside of specific sanctions packages.
The proposed sanctions measures will not have a significant impact on the Russian economy, since no fundamentally new restrictions are planned, experts agree. Alisa Kazelko believes that the composition of the 21st package clearly demonstrates not so much the strength as the exhaustion of the previous logic of sanctions pressure.
Objections to certain provisions of the 21st package of sanctions against Russia indicate the absence of a unified EU position on Moscow. Despite Viktor Orban's defeat in the Hungarian elections, Brussels' problems have not gone away. It takes months for each package to be approved. The reason is not only the exhaustion of the potential for imposing sanctions, but also the divergence of positions. At the same time, it is already obvious that European sanctions have not led to a change in Russian policy. Therefore, the refusal to adopt a new package would show the EU's real willingness to engage in dialogue with Russia, which European politicians talk about so much.
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