The European Union is preparing to put more than 1,600 companies on its sanctions blacklist in one go, Bloomberg reported on July 29, citing people familiar with the matter. No earlier package has named that many firms at once.
The companies, which the EU says are helping Russia fight its war in Ukraine, have a combined annual turnover above $20 billion and employ more than 265,000 people. If every EU country signs off, the number of entities under EU sanctions over the war would rise by 50%.
Names, not industries
The EU’s foreign policy arm, the EEAS, is drafting the proposal. It goes after individual companies, not whole products or sectors, and has been in the works for several months as officials look for parts of the Russian military-industrial complex that have escaped sanctions so far. Bloomberg’s sources said it is unlikely to hit the Russian economy as hard as earlier packages that went after oil and banking.
Brussels hopes it adds leverage. European leaders argue that Ukraine’s stronger position on the battlefield and Russia’s economic decline have opened a chance for new peace talks. Moscow has cut its 2026 growth forecasts. In Washington, President Donald Trump is paying fresh attention to the war, promising Kyiv help with air defense, and was due to receive President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.
A harder sell
Getting sanctions through has become tougher. Capitals keep asking for exemptions to limit the damage to their own economies. The EU recently had to water down parts of its 21st package: it dropped a proposed ban on transferring Russian LNG to other countries after Greece objected. France and Italy pushed to remove a ban on former Russian combatants entering the EU. Other states got a possible ban on some Russian fish, such as cod and pollock, struck out.
With that history, officials told EU envoys they will circulate the new proposal in the coming weeks so capitals have time to study it. The aim is adoption at a foreign ministers’ meeting in October. Separately, the bloc is working on more restrictive measures over the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, which could also come in the fall.
Germany, France and the United Kingdom are trying again to draw Putin into peace talks, in coordination with Zelenskyy. The team of European Council President Antonio Costa has also approached the Kremlin to open a channel. Putin has so far rejected all calls for a ceasefire.
