EU set to give final approval to new Russia sanctions

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell addresses the media on the Ukraine crisis, in Brussels, Belgium, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman

By Philip Blenkinsop and Bart H. Meijer

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union is set to give its final approval for a new batch of sanctions against Russia over its war against Ukraine, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.

The measures include more restrictions in trade with Russia in steel and tech products, and an oil price cap for Russian seaborne crude deliveries to third countries through European insurers. As well, the sanctions will include more individuals involved in Moscow's ad-hoc annexation votes in occupied eastern Ukraine and people involved in bypassing sanctions.

"This should further constrain Russia's exports capacity and the relations its industry carries out, particularly in the technological sector," Josep Borrell told the European Parliament.

The agreement is expected to be formalised by 0800 GMT on Thursday if no EU country raises last-minute objections. With sanctions requiring unanimous backing of all the bloc's 27 members, the deal is more modest than Russia hawks had proposed.

That group, which includes Poland and the Baltic states, had sought a complete ban on nuclear energy cooperation and diamond imports from Russia, as well as the blacklisting of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, a Kremlin ally.

Moscow-traded shares of Russia's state-controlled diamond miner Alrosa were up on the news as Belgium - home to the world's biggest diamond trading hub Antwerp - blocked an EU embargo on the luxury industry.

"The package could have been far stronger," said Poland's EU ambassador, Andrzej Sados. "But given that we require unanimity... it is important that we have this strong response to Russia's latest aggressive steps."

The oil cap - designed to align the whole of the EU with the G7 group of the world's most industrialised countries - was also watered down to give exemptions to seafaring countries like Greece, Malta and Cyprus, EU diplomats said, raising doubts about its practical feasibility.

Eurasia consultancy said that tying the EU's insurance ban to a price cap was actually watering down a blanket ban on providing insurance and financial services for Russian seaborne oil that the bloc had agreed previously and which would have taken effect from December.