EU adopts nearly 1,600 new sanctions on Russian war industry

BRUSSELS - The European Union on Monday formally added almost 1,600 new individuals and entities to its sanctions blacklist over Russia's war on Ukraine, in a bid to keep pressure on Moscow, AFP reports.

"This is the single largest expansion of our sanctions list since Russia started its war," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote online.

"Europe is again showing a united front. More than half are connected to the production chain for ballistic missiles," she said.

"We are making it significantly harder, slower and more expensive for Russia to produce the weapons it uses to kill Ukrainians," she added.

Ukraine and its European backers have been left reeling by a decision from President Donald Trump last week to lift sanctions on Russian diesel as part of a deal to supply the United States.

The measures will take the EU's sanctions blacklist on Russia - which includes key figures like President Vladimir Putin - up to some 3,500 listings.

EU countries are still smarting over a push from France and Luxembourg last month that saw sanctions lifted on prominent Russian billionaires Alisher Umanov and Mikhail Fridman.

That move - which in Usmanov's case was linked to a French prisoner release deal in Azerbaijan - drew stinging criticism from Kyiv.

Alongside its blacklist on individuals and entities - the 27-nation EU has also imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on swathes of Russia's economy.

But there is fear that momentum is running out on new sweeping sanctions as EU countries increasingly struggle to agree targets that do not harm their own economies too much.