EU proposes entry ban for Russian Ukraine combatants in new sanctions package

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen laid out plans for the EU's next package of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine in Brussels on Tuesday.

The proposals, which will require approval from the governments of member states, include a bid to deny Russian military servicepeople entry into the EU.

The bloc is also planning further restrictions on various industrial sectors, on the banking industry and cryptocurrency assets, and on Russia's so-called "shadow fleet" of ships accused of helping circumvent sanctions on things like oil sales.

Von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels that the ban would apply to anybody who had served the Russian Armed Forces since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"We propose for the first time to ban from entry into the European Union anyone who has served in the Russian Armed Forces since the beginning of the war," von der Leyen said.

"Europe stays off limitis for anyone who has participated in the invasion of Ukraine, simple as that," she said.

Von der Leyen also proposed measures targeting Russia's financial, energy and fishery sectors.

It would include a proposal to keep the current price cap on russian oil fixed until January next year, despite the recent increases in oil prices caused by the conflict in Iran and the wider Gulf region. The cap — currently forbidding purchases for prices above $44.10 (€38) per barrel, far below the market rates — would rise along with global prices without this adjustment.