European Union ambassadors on December 10 decided on further sanctions against Russia, with a new package adding several individuals and entities to its sprawling blacklist adopted in response to the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago.
While not a sweeping sanctions package involving sectoral restrictive measures hitting Moscow as in the past, the bloc focused the measures on five individuals involved in the global oil business in an attempt to hit Russia as it trades below the G7-imposed oil price cap that currently stands at $47.6 per barrel.
The official document, seen by RFE/RL, blacklists the Azerbaijani businessman Talat Safarov. Safarov is the CEO of 2Rivers Group, a UAE based oil-trading group that according to Brussels is active in shipments and exports of Russian oil, notably from the state-owned energy giant Rosneft, by concealing the actual origin of the oil.
Shadow Fleet
Pakistani businessman Murtaza Ali Lakhani is also targeted after being deemed to control “vessels transporting crude oil or petroleum products, originating in Russia or being exported from Russia, while practicing irregular and high-risk shipping practices.”
Such practices include using ships without proper insurance and switching off naval trackers while sailing.
Three Russian individuals are also targeted as are four companies.
Two of those firms are based in the United Arab Emirates and are believed to have been involved recently in transporting Russian oil in recent times. A Vietnamese-based company and a Russian one are also listed for owning or managing tankers that are part of the Russian shadow fleet.
In a separate move, Brussels is also set on December 12 to list 43 boats it believes are part of the actual shadow fleet. The list, which currently has over 500 vessels on it, bars those boats from being serviced in any way in any EU port.
EU ambassadors also agreed to target people who they believe have carried out destabilizing activities on behalf of Russia around the globe.
The updated list includes John Mark Dougan, a dual American-Russian citizen and former deputy sheriff from Florida who settled in Russia nearly a decade ago.
He is accused of participating in pro-Kremlin digital information operations from Moscow with the goal of “influencing elections, discrediting political figures and manipulating public discourse in Western countries.”
A former colonel in the Swiss Army, Jacques Baud, is also listed for acting “as a mouthpiece for pro-Russian propaganda and making conspiracy theories, for example accusing Ukraine of orchestrating its own invasion in order to join NATO.” The former French military officer Xavier Moreau is listed for similar actions.
Others being sanctioned include Dmitry Suslov, Fyodor Lukyanov and Andrei Sushentsov, who are all described as foreign policy analysts with close links to the Valdai discussion club. They are accused of spreading Kremlin-linked disinformation.
A number officials with Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) are listed and accused of being responsible for various cyberattacks in recent years against both Ukraine and EU member states.
