The European Commission has proposed sanctioning Chinese companies involved in buying Russian oil products, in the latest round of measures designed to damage Moscow’s war machine.
“We are now going after those who fuelled Russia’s war by purchasing oil in breach of the sanctions. We [will] target refineries, oil traders, petrochemical companies in third countries, including China,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
The proposals are the commission’s 19th package of sanctions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The measures will have to be approved by the bloc’s 27 member states before they can take effect.
“In three years, Russia’s oil revenues in Europe have gone down by 90 per cent. We are now turning that page for good,” von der Leyen said, as she announced a ban on European Union purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas and expanded sanctions against its oil sector.
The European package is not thought to go that far, but is expected to blacklist a substantial number of Chinese entities. Details of the measures will only be released if the bloc signs off on them.
