The European Union's latest proposal for the next round of sanctions on Russia -- the 17th package since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine over three years ago -- might just be its weakest yet.
Presented by the European Commission earlier this week to the 27 EU member and seen by RFE/RL, contains no hard-hitting economic measures against the Kremlin.
Instead, it features more asset freezes and visa bans on various individuals and entities, mostly Russian citizens and companies involved in the arms industry. It also includes banning 98 more ships from Moscow's so-called shadow fleet from being serviced at EU ports, bringing the total of ships on the list to 250. And lastly, it imposes export restrictions on 35 companies, most of which are Russian but others are Kazakh, Serbian, Turkish, and Uzbek.
The goal, according to EU officials RFE/RL has spoken to, is to adopt the proposal when the bloc's foreign ministers meet on May 20. The club wants to show that Russia's numerous attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in recent weeks shouldn't go unpunished, and approval is also likely to be swift -- the new measures are so uncontroversial that even a sanctions skeptic like Hungary would be ready to give a ready thumbs-up.
SEE ALSO: Trump Calls For 30-Day Cease-Fire After Ukraine Accuses Russia Of Breaking Its Own TruceAccording to diplomats familiar with the sanctions negotiations, Budapest will, however, request a certain proposed entity be scrubbed off the list. It's the Dubai-based Litasco, a subsidiary of the Russian energy giant Lukoil. Hungary is one of the very few EU countries still importing Russian oil. Brussels wants to target the company as it has "enabled the procurement of numerous vessels forming part of the so-called shadow fleet," according to the proposal. "These vessels have transported oil from Russia while turning off or manipulating their AIS transponders, not maintaining adequate liability insurance or other financial security, as well as carrying out unsafe maritime operations."
Sanctions On Chinese Companies
There are also questions about whether blacklisting six proposed Chinese companies will fly given that some European capitals are wary of upsetting Beijing too much given the extensive trade links between Brussels and China. The most interesting of these are Poly Technologies, which has provided components for Russian military helicopters, and Skywalker Technology, a producer of the Gerbera drone that Brussels says "has been used by the Russian military in Ukraine, in particular as a decoy drone to overwhelm Ukrainian defense systems."
A vendor sits at the site of the Barabashovo market hit by a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 6.
While this package seems insignificant, the EU has been working on separate sanctions measures targeting Russia in parallel to the 17th package. These are more thematic sanctions consisting of asset freezes and visa bans, and are set to be adopted later in May. These include blacklistings for human rights abuses, the use of chemical weapons, and "destabilizing activities" carried out around the world.
The human rights violation package targets 28 people, all Russian judges and prosecutors, who are responsible for either targeting the deceased Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and his associates or for sentencing Russians for spreading anti-war messages online.
The chemical weapons proliferation listings target three entities, including the Radiological Chemical and Biological Defense Troops of the Russian Defense Ministry. In its reasoning, the EU is for the first time formally accusing the Kremlin of using chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
SEE ALSO: EU To Formally Accuse Russia Of Using Chemical Weapons In UkraineThe Individuals Targets
The proposal also targets 21 individuals and companies for destabilizing activities around the world. These include two people accused of being behind attacks on vehicles of the Estonian interior minister and the editor of a Russian-language newspaper in Tallinn.
Others include Elena Kolbasnikova, a Russian national accused of creating "political structures with the German anti-democratic extreme political right in support of Russia's destabilization of Ukraine," Alina Lipp, a war correspondent with the Russian armed forces in eastern Ukraine, and German blogger Thomas Roper, who "disseminates misinformation about Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and delegitimizes the Ukrainian government."
Two targeted Moldovan nationals, Ivan and Iurie Neculiti, run a Web hosting service registered in the United Kingdom called Stark, which reportedly enables "various Russian state-sponsored and affiliated actors to conduct destabilizing activities including coordinated information manipulation and interference and cyber-attacks against EU and third countries."
There are also a handful of people who allegedly spread Russian propaganda in various African countries and a Russian fishing company, Murman SeaFood. This company is the owner of a vessel that according to the EU "has repeatedly shown untypical behavior and navigation practices inconsistent with their normal fishing activities, including presence in close vicinity to an ongoing NATO military exercise and regular presence close to Norwegian critical infrastructure and military sites."