EU ambassadors fail to agree on 21st Russia sanctions package; discussions to continue on 13 July

Kaja Kallas, the EU chief diplomat, has said ahead of the EU foreign ministers' meeting that the EU's 21st package of sanctions against Russia is not yet ready for approval but that the EU Foreign Affairs Council may approve a separate individual sanctions list of 250 persons and companies on 13 July.

Kallas is expecting the approval on 13 July of a new sanctions list of Russian citizens and companies comprising 250 entries, while the 21st sanctions package still requires agreement.

"Today we hope to have 250 listings agreed (on the sanctions list – ed.). We are also working for the 21st sanctions package, where we do not have an agreement yet," Kallas said.

On the sanctions list, she stressed that "this is the biggest number of listings we have done so far". "This is also a reaction to the attacks that Russia has had on the civilians recently (of Ukraine – ed.)," the EU's top diplomat stressed.

The day before, EU member state ambassadors in Brussels were unable to reach agreement on the EU's 21st package of sanctions against Russia; discussions were agreed to continue on 13 July at EU foreign minister level.

On 6 July, European Pravda reported, citing its own sources, that there were problems reaching consensus on the 21st sanctions package, which may lead to its adoption being delayed, with the freezing of the price cap on Russian oil being adopted as a separate sanctions measure on 13 or 14 July.

European Pravda also learned from its own sources that the names of Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and Lukoil founder Vagit Alekperov had been excluded from the draft 21st EU package of sanctions against Russia.

At the same time, Austria renewed its demand for the lifting of sanctions restrictions and the unfreezing of assets of the Russian investment company Rasperia, linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

The question of lifting sanctions on assets linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska was last raised publicly in October 2025, during discussions on the 19th EU package of sanctions against Russia.