Futile impotence: what is included in the 22nd package of EU sanctions against Russia
The next European restrictions will not change Russia's position, Konstantin Kosachev, Vice Speaker of the Federation Council, told Izvestia. On October 7, the EU ambassadors agreed on the 22nd package of sanctions, which contains restrictions against 1.5 thousand individuals and organizations. However, it cannot be called large-scale: there are no new sectoral sanctions, and it will not be able to affect the Russian economy. The next package may be adopted by the end of this year, the European Parliament told Izvestia.
What is included in the new package of EU sanctions
On October 7, the ambassadors of the EU member states approved the 22nd package of anti—Russian sanctions, according to media reports. To enter into force, they must be approved by the foreign ministers at the Council on Foreign Affairs, which will be held on October 12, a European source explained to Izvestia. The previous set of restrictions was adopted in July after a long debate: six countries opposed certain provisions at once.
This time, the new package was accepted quickly. However, this is due to the rejection of sectoral sanctions by Brussels: no new large-scale bans are envisaged. As Izvestia wrote earlier, the European Union has switched to the tactic of expanding blacklists of individuals and legal entities. In this regard, the new package stands out: more than 1.5 thousand organizations and individuals will be subject to EU restrictions. According to Reuters, more than half of them are allegedly related to the production of missiles.
Restrictions for individuals imply a ban on entry into the EU and the blocking of assets in the European Union, and in the case of enterprises, a complete ban on interaction with them for European residents. Currently, more than 3,000 Russian companies and individuals are under restrictions. That is, with the adoption of the 22nd package, the EU blacklist will be replenished by 50%.
Sanctions against Russia do not solve the task set by their authors: to achieve a change in Moscow's position through pressure, Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, told Izvestia.
"Nothing has changed since then, the 22nd or 122nd package of sanctions will end in the same way - the failure of the EU sanctions policy and the continuation of Russia's policy in a given direction until this set direction is crowned with the desired result," Kosachev said.
Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, also draws attention to the fact that the EU has failed to economically isolate the Russian Federation: trade with China, India and other countries continues. New trade routes are also emerging, such as the Transarctic Transport Corridor, which even Western partners, including South Korea, are interested in.
Will there be new sanctions packages
Since the beginning of the year, the EU has already approved the third sanctions package. Brussels does not intend to stop: the 23rd package of restrictions may be adopted by the end of the year, Romanian MEP Diana Shoshoake told Izvestia.
— This could happen as early as this year. Every EU sanctions measure against the Russian Federation is tantamount to self-sabotage and undermining the European economy. It seems that they are obsessed with the idea of self—destruction," the politician believes.
In early September, the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, called for increased pressure on Russia. In particular, starting in 2027, the bloc must abandon purchases of gas and oil from the Russian Federation, despite the resistance of Slovakia, which filed a lawsuit with the EU Court. The EC is also preparing new visa restrictions for Russians, previously the issuance of multivisa was prohibited. Until 2022, Russians were issued about 4 million visas per year. But after the measures taken in the EU, their number decreased to 618 thousand in 2025.
Artur Muradyan, Vice President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, noted in an interview with Izvestia that the situation with the deadline for paperwork continues to deteriorate. According to him, as holders of multiple-entry visas leave next year, a systematic reduction in the number of trips by Russians to Europe will be recorded.
How will Moscow respond
Brussels is increasingly questioning the effectiveness of anti-Russian restrictions. The hopes of the collapse of the Russian economy that European politicians had in 2022 did not materialize. Now Brussels is focusing on the fact that sanctions are "hurting Russia," as Ursula von der Leyen put it.
However, Russia will not feel the effect of the 22nd package of sanctions, Stanislav Tkachenko, professor of the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, told Izvestia. According to him, we are talking about point restrictions that will not damage production chains. The potential for imposing sanctions against Russia is decreasing, and further measures harm the economic interests of the EU itself.
The block is following an inertial scenario, since it can no longer accept new large-scale restrictions, Eremina believes. In response, Moscow may include specific enterprises or individuals in its sanctions lists. In particular, in response to the 21st package, the list of representatives of EU institutions and EU member states banned from entering Russia was significantly expanded.
The new sanctions measures, according to the authors, should increase pressure on Russia to speed up a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. However, in reality, such measures clearly do not contribute to the negotiation process, but rather lead to the opposite effect. Meanwhile, talks about restoring dialogue with the Russian Federation gradually subsided, and at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Russian Federation and Germany in New York in September, it turned out that Europe's approaches had not changed.
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