Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On Wednesday, the European Union’s 19th round of sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine was taken off the agenda for a meeting of EU government representatives in Brussels, according to EU diplomats.
The meeting of EU ambassador representatives to the European Union, known as COREPER, was held to discuss the package that the European Commission has been working on for some time, and no new date for the discussions was set, the diplomats said.
“It was taken off the COREPER agenda late yesterday afternoon. No new date is planned,”
One diplomat said.
A day earlier, according to the European Commission, the 19th package of sanctions against Russia is still being prepared.
“To my knowledge, we haven’t yet put it on the table. It is being prepared. That’s what we can tell you for the moment,”
Paula Pinho, chief spokesperson for the European Commission, said.
Olof Gill, deputy chief spokesperson for the European Commission, added:
“When it comes to our work around sanctions, since our first package, and this is the 19th, what we do is to make it function as well as it should, to make those sanctions as effective as they can possibly be”.
How many sanctions packages has the EU imposed so far?
The EU brought in its first package of sanctions against Russia on February 23, 2022, following Russia’s recognition of the non-government-controlled Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent entities and the subsequent deployment of Russian troops to those regions.
The European Union has imposed 18 sanction packages on Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The packages have continuously tightened limits in various areas, including energy revenues, banks, and the military-industrial complex, as well as asset freezes and export bans directed at individuals, entities, and vessels connected to Russia’s actions.
The 18th package was adopted on July 18, 2025, and includes measures to cut Russia’s energy revenues, strengthen anti-circumvention efforts, and hold Russia accountable for war crimes, among others.
