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European Union ambassadors failed to reach an agreement on the 21st package of anti-Russian sanctions during a meeting in Brussels, a European source told reporters on July 22. The source said there had been no agreement regarding the compromise draft of the package, as reported by TASS.Coverage comparison
The failure to agree follows weeks of negotiations that have exposed divisions among EU member states. While France 24 reported that EU ambassadors reached a political agreement on the 21st sanctions package on Thursday, citing four EU diplomats, TASS reported the opposite outcome, citing a European source in Brussels who said no agreement had been reached on the compromise draft.TASS further reported that the full version of the sanctions package failed on July 15, after which the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) convened to discuss a reduced package. The European Commission had previously proposed a draft version with milder restrictions on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation to third countries by European tankers, according to TASS.
Key claims
- EU ambassadors failed to reach an agreement on the 21st sanctions package, according to a European source quoted by TASS.
- Greece is blocking the proposed ban on transporting Russian LNG to third countries, as reported by TASS, citing earlier reports by Politico and Bloomberg. Greece fears that its shipping companies may suffer serious losses.
- The European Commission proposed a draft version with softer restrictions on Russian LNG transportation, and the document does not contain a proposed ban on purchasing Russian fish, TASS reported.
- France and Germany opposed the ban on purchasing Russian cod and pollock, which they need for their fish processing plants, according to TASS.
- Austria opposed another attempt to include its Raiffeisenbank into the sanctions blacklist, TASS reported.
- The European Commission acknowledged that the EU failed to include a provision banning entry into EU member states for participants in Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X, according to TASS. Von der Leyen said, "We took an important step towards formally banning Russian combatants from entering the EU," but made no mention of the ban on LNG transportation.
- The Coalition of the Willing postponed troop deployment talks, as reported by Russian media, according to TASS. A European diplomatic source told Izvestia that there is currently no substantive discussion on deploying troops to Ukraine.