EU Prepares Sanctions on Third-Party Banks Supporting Russia

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union is working on a new sanctions package that will target the Russian financial sector in the latest effort by Ukraine’s allies to place pressure on President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace deal to end the war.

The bloc is also preparing to target third-party banks that are supporting Moscow’s war effort, according to a person familiar with the details, who did not want to be named discussing matters that are not public. 

“We want peace and we have to increase the pressure on President Putin until he is ready for peace,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Tirana Friday. “And this is why we’re working on a new package of sanctions.”

Negotiating teams from Kyiv and Moscow met in Istanbul Friday for the first time in more than three years. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the Russian negotiating team as a “sham” after Putin announced that a low-level delegation would attend. 

The EU’s economy commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, said that Russia was “playing games” and not committed to a peace process, prompting the need for a more powerful round of measures. 

“More pressure is needed,” Dombrovskis said in an interview. “It’s important that this new sanctions package is stronger and more ambitious and really provides that pressure.” 

EU member states backed a 17th package of sanctions against Russia earlier this week, which mostly target Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers as well as individuals and entities that help Moscow evade energy restrictions. Sanctions require unanimous support from all 27 member states. 

The new package that the commission president proposed will also sanction the Nord Stream pipelines, lower the oil price cap, and list more vessels of the Russian shadow fleet, von der Leyen said at the European Political Community summit.

Ukraine and European powers have demanded that Putin commit to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire to create space for negotiations on a peace deal. Putin hasn’t agreed to the truce and instead offered at the weekend to resume direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey. 

Von der Leyen criticized Putin for not showing up to the meeting himself to conduct the negotiations. 

“This shows the true belief of President Putin: He doesn’t want peace,” she said. “So we have to increase the pressure.”

(Updates with detail on third-party restrictions in second, Dombrovskis comments in fifth and sixth paragraphs.)

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.