European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on July 13 that member states have not finalized a 21st package of sanctions against Russia, though she indicated they are nearing an agreement. She spoke after a scheduled meeting of EU foreign ministers. Bulgaria had objected to the inclusion of Russian Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill and Lukoil owner Vagit Alekperov; those individuals were reportedly removed from the package after Bulgarian arguments were accepted by the European Commission and the Irish Presidency. Separately, the EU approved 250 new individual and entity designations under existing sanctions regimes, the largest round of such listings since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. The new sanctions round matters because the bloc continues to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Moscow as the war in Ukraine continues.