EU proposes first sanctions on Russian gas

The European Commission has proposed sanctions targeting Russian gas for the first time since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The proposal seeks to eliminate a small sector of Russian gas exports – the shipping of liquified natural gas (LNG) through European ports to third parties. The €2 billion this would knock off Russian gas profits is a drop in the ocean compared to the €200 billion or so the EU has spent on Russian fossil fuels since the start of the war, but what this round of sanctions lacks in scale, it gains in practicality. Many previous sanctions – most notably the $60 cap on Russian crude – have been rendered useless by black-market trading. Banning LNG reimports entirely is a (small) step in the right direction to both limit Russia’s ability to raise cash and decouple Europe from Russian energy.