UKRAINE WAR: EU hits Russia with sweeping new sanctions

The EU yesterday adopted a sweeping new package of sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war, looking to pile more pressure on the Kremlin by lowering a price cap for Moscow's oil exports.

The 18th round of economic measures from Europe against Russia since its 2022 invasion comes as allies hope US President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to punish Moscow for stalling peace efforts.

"The EU just approved one of its strongest sanctions packages against Russia to date," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

"The message is clear: Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the sanctions' adoption as "essential and timely". Moscow downplayed the impact of fresh sanctions, saying they were "illegal" and would backfire.

"We will certainly analyse the new package in order to minimise its impact," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, on a briefing call.

Meanwhile, Russian drone and bomb fire killed at least six people across Ukraine's east and south, local authorities said yesterday.

The strikes killed at least three people in the Dnipropetrovsk region -- an important industrial mining territory under increasing pressure from Russia's attacks.

In a separate development, Britain yesterday slapped sanctions on the GRU Russian intelligence agency and 18 agents accused of "spreading chaos and disorder" on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The new EU sanction measures were approved after Slovakia dropped a weeks-long block following talks with Brussels over separate plans to phase out Russian gas imports.

Kremlin-friendly Slovakian leader Robert Fico -- whose country remains dependent on Russian energy -- dropped his opposition after getting what he called "guarantees" from Brussels over future gas prices.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called the latest moves "unprecedented" and said that ""together with the United States we will force (Russian President) Vladimir Putin into a ceasefire".

As part of the new sanctions designed to sap Russia's war chest, diplomats said the EU has agreed to lower its price cap on Russian oil exported to third countries around the world, to 15 percent below market value.

That comes despite EU allies failing to convince US President Donald Trump to go along with the plan.

The cap is a G7 initiative aimed at limiting the amount of money Russia makes by exporting oil to countries across the globe such as China and India.