The EU bans the entry of former Russian combatants into its territory

This was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the presentation of the 21st package of EU sanctions against Russia.

“Europe is closed to anyone who participated in the invasion of Ukraine. It’s that simple,” she said.

Ursula von der Leyen emphasised that compliance with sanctions against Russia is “paying off,” and that the restrictions have already “effectively cut Russia off from global capital markets.”

“Russia’s budget is under growing pressure. More than two-thirds of the liquid assets of its sovereign wealth fund are gone. Energy revenues fell by around 40% in early 2026. Hundreds of vessels from Russia's shadow fleet have been targeted by our sanctions. Export controls are depriving Russia's defence industry of critical technologies and components. So our consistency with the sanctions packages is paying off,” she said.

The official called Russia’s military actions against Ukraine a “failure” and emphasised that “it is, first and foremost, the Russian people who are paying the price for the aggression.”

“They face declining living standards at home. Inflation is close to 6%. Interest rates stand at 14.5%. Taxes are rising. This is the real cost of Putin's war for Russian citizens. And on top of this, our sanctions keep biting hard and cutting deep. They are weakening the economic foundations of Russia's war effort,” says the official.

New sanctions

In addition to entry restrictions for former Russian military, the European Commission proposes to:

• pause adjustments to the oil price cap until January 2027; this will give oil markets time to stabilise while maintaining pressure on Russia’s revenues;
• add 30 more vessels on top of the 632 already sanctioned. For the first time, we are also targeting vessels that assist the shadow fleet – providing bunkering and other services.
• target critical infrastructure, such as ports, airports, refineries trading or processing Russian oil.
• restrict the sale of liquefied natural gas tankers to Russia, just as has already been done for oil tankers.
• expand transaction bans to 31 more Russian banks. And to 20 banks, crypto firms or platforms and oil traders in third countries.
• introduce the possibility of a full third-country ban for crypto-asset services. It will act as a strong deterrent for the countries hosting platforms that help Russia evade our sanctions.
• put forward new export restrictions targeting more metals and alloys used in the aerospace and defence sectors, bans on ground support equipment, and jamming and launch systems, among others.
• new import bans on a number of goods worth EUR 60 million like certain metals, metal ores or car parts.