EU signs off on 21st package of sanctions against Russia – Europe live
Key events
Ukraine peace will require ‘new ideas’ to break deadlock in talks, Rubio says
Rubio says there will need to be “new ideas” put on the table to reach an agreement on ending the war in Ukraine, as the proposals put forward so far were “not acceptable to Ukraine at the time, and I don’t think it’d be acceptable to them either; in fact, probably less acceptable to them.”
“If, when peace comes, it’ll be because of some new idea and some new concepts, and we’re prepared to offer some of those in the right setting and form if the opportunity presents itself and the conditions are right. We’re prepared to play that role in a positive way.”
US will ‘continue to see if we can find a middle ground’ to end war in Ukraine, Rubio says
US secretary of state Marco Rubio is speaking to reporters in Manila now, after meeting with Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and attending the Asean summit earlier today.
He says he had “a good, frank conversation” on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is “a very bloody war,” with the Russians now “suffering strikes deep in their territory; something you did not see at the end of the year.”
And “the winter’s still going to hit Ukraine, and they’re you know obviously going to have to defend their airspace.”
He continued:
“Ukraine’s played a tremendous price as well. We’ve seen you know civilian deaths, strikes in Kyiv. … This war has not been good for Ukraine either. So I think both sides should have an incentive to bring it to an end.
That’s been the challenge: [finding] an end that both sides can accept. And we’ve tried, and we’ll continue to try to see if we can find a middle ground that brings this about, and we’re prepared to play that role if the opportunity presents itself. We express that today, and we’ve expressed it in the past.”
EU sanctions ‘continue to weaken the economic foundations of Russia’s war effort,’ von der Leyen says
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the adoption of the 21st package of sanctions, saying they “continue to weaken the economic foundations of Russia’s war effort.”
“We’re adding 32 more Russian banks to our transaction ban list. As well as crypto firms and oil trading platforms.
Freezing the oil price cap adjustment for a year, so that the Russian war machine does not benefit from market shocks.
For the first time, we’re targeting vessels assisting Russia’s shadow fleet.
And we took an important step towards formally banning Russian combatants from entering the EU.
Many thanks to Ireland for facilitating this agreement.”
EU bows to pressure from Greece on LNG to get 21st package adopted – snap analysis
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
After weeks of delay the EU has reached agreement on the latest package of sanctions against Russia, by handing a concession to Greece.
The EU’s 27 ambassadors reached a political agreement on the 21st round of sanctions, an EU diplomat said, after a final round of talks on Thursday morning.
Talks wrapped up quickly on Thursday morning, after discussions described as “heated” on Wednesday, as Athens upheld its veto.
Greece has secured a one-year exemption from an earlier EU sanctions measure, enabling it to transport liquefied natural gas to non EU countries, as long as the contract was signed before Russia’s full-scale invasion. The carve out protects a large Greek shipping company, Dynagas, that specialised in transporting LNG from Russia’s Yamal fields.
The Greek government sought an exemption on the phase out of transporting Russian gas due to take effect on 1 January 2027 – despite having agreed to the measure in October 2025.
In pursuit of this goal it had blocked the entire 21st round of sanctions, which includes measures targeting crypto companies, banks and oil traders helping Russia evade sanctions. Now Athens has secured a carve out.
The package includes an agreement to extend the current oil price cap on Russian revenues for a further 12 months, preventing Russia from taking advantage of rising oil prices as a result of the blockade of the strait of Hormuz. The EU’s oil-price cap was due to go up automatically in August, heaping pressure to find an agreement.
The package also includes the highest number of sanctions on individuals in any package in the last four years, according to the EU diplomat.
But a plan to ban Russian ex-combatants from travelling to the EU appears to have been delayed, although there is a pledge to “bring forward the necessary measures”.
Morning opening: EU agrees on 21st package of sanctions against Russia
Jakub Krupa
EU ambassadors have finally signed off on the 21st package of sanctions against Russia this morning, after their previous meetings failed to yield any results amid pressure from individual member states pushing back against elements of the deal.
The technical work on the sanctions will now be concluded, and a written procedure for adoption will be launched this afternoon to formally put them in place.
The deal was reached shortly after the talks resumed early morning as ambassadors raced to avoid embarrassment of not finding a deal before the summer break.
I will bring you all the details as soon as we have them.
The move comes just hours after the top US diplomat, Marco Rubio, met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Manila with the question of Ukraine high on the agenda.
It’s Thursday, 23 July 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
