According to the publication's diplomatic sources, Vienna is still seeking legal clarification of the details of the plan, but the EU foreign policy service is expected to “resolve this problem in the coming days,” the publication writes. In addition, Austria continues to insist on special conditions for unfreezing Russian assets in the EU in order to compensate for losses from Raiffeisen Bank's losses in the Russian Federation.
At the same time, Hungary's position on this issue has changed – the Hungarian ambassador to the EU did not even take the floor at the last summit to speak out against the LNG embargo, despite the fact that Budapest had previously blocked this issue, the article says.
Slovakia is currently probably the main Kremlin lobbyist when discussing the new package. At the last debate, Bratislava was left almost alone with its “political objections,” Observer notes.
In addition, Spain said that the EU needs to “better coordinate” plans to abandon Russian energy, but Madrid does not intend to object to the aggressor country’s abandonment of LNG.
The authors of the article claim that the draft 19 package has already approved a list of new people and enterprises subject to sanctions for supporting the Kremlin, which also includes more than 120 Russian oil tankers of the shadow fleet and tightening restrictions on the Russian banking sector.
The next meeting of EU foreign ministers on the sanctions issue will be held on October 20, the publication indicates.
Context
Sanctions against the aggressor country Russia were introduced in response to its attack on Ukraine back in 2014. After the full-scale invasion of Russian troops on February 24, 2022, restrictions were significantly expanded.
In total, the European Union has already introduced 18 sanctions packages, the last of which was approved by the EU Council on July 18, 2025.
September 19 19th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation presented by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. According to her, the EU wants to reduce Russia's income from fossil fuels by banning the import of Russian liquefied natural gas into European markets. In addition, another 118 vessels of the Russian “shadow fleet” will be added to the sanctions list, which includes 560 vessels, the EC President added. She noted that the new package of measures will also be aimed at oil refineries, oil traders, petrochemical companies in third countries, including China, which may be buying oil in violation of sanctions.
