EU approves biggest Russia sanctions package since invasion began

The European Union has enacted its most extensive sanctions package against Russia since the commencement of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, specifically targeting the Kremlin's capacity to manufacture missiles. During a meeting in Luxembourg, the bloc's foreign ministers ratified the package, which comprises 1,600 additional listings aimed at Russia's military-industrial complex, according to EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas.

She emphasized that this represents the "single largest expansion of our sanctions list since Russia started its war," with more than half of the new listings linked to the production chain for ballistic missiles. The fresh listings followed the removal of Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, two of Russia's wealthiest individuals, from the sanctions list last month following intense negotiations between EU capitals.

The approval on Monday was essentially a formality, as EU countries had previously agreed on the sanctions list in prior discussions. Kallas stated that these sanctions are intended to "make it significantly harder, slower and more expensive for Russia to produce the weapons it uses to kill Ukrainians." The sanctions list will remain in effect for three years before it needs to be renewed.