Kaja Kallas: "put forward the most far-reaching sanctions listings since the start of the war"

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says the bloc will introduce a fresh sanctions round against Russia this autumn, pledging in a Die Welt interview that the new designations would be the broadest since the invasion. She said the additions would raise the number of sanctioned Russian individuals and companies, currently above 3,000, by a third. The EU has approved 21 packages since Russia’s 2022 invasion, freezing more than €28 billion in European-held private assets, but unanimous support from all 27 members is required. Greece almost derailed the latest package by demanding an exemption from a ban on Russian LNG shipments. Kallas estimated the economic toll on Moscow at over one trillion euros and expressed hope for closer EU-US sanctions coordination after the Senate passed a Russia sanctions bill, as Brussels worries about waning American support under President Trump.