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Sanctions adopted following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine

What the EU is doing and why

Since March 2014, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures (sanctions) against Russia, initially in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine. On 23 February 2022, the EU expanded the sanctions in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk ‘oblasts’ of Ukraine, and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas. After 24 February 2022, in response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the EU massively expanded the sanctions. It added a significant number of individuals and organisations to the sanctions list, and adopted unprecedented measures with the aim of weakening Russia's economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and significantly curtailing its ability to wage war. 

In parallel, the EU sanctions regime concerning Belarus has been expanded in response to the country’s involvement in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. This is in addition to the sanctions aimed at Belarus that were already in place. This sanctions regime consists of a range of financial, economic and trade measures. 

The respective Council Regulations identified below are addressed to all individuals, organisations and bodies under EU jurisdiction, for which they create legal obligations. 

EU sanctions map

The EU sanctions map provides comprehensive details of all EU sanctions regimes and their corresponding legal acts, including a whistleblower tool, a consolidated list of travel bans and a consolidated list of financial sanctions.

More on EU sanctions map

Timeline: measures adopted since 2022

Overview of sanctions in place

Guidance documents and frequently asked questions

Member States are responsible for implementing sanctions. The Commission oversees the implementation by Member States and is working closely with them in order to support them on implementation, provide information to stakeholders, and engage in a dialogue to collect feedback on how sanctions are implemented.

The Commission has published guidance and extensive FAQs (over 500) covering a broad range of topics and continues to update them, in order to assist stakeholders on how to apply the sanctions packages.

Have a look at the guidance documents

Have a look at the FAQs

Contacts

EU economic operators: ec-russia-sanctionsatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ec-russia-sanctions[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
The primary responsibility for the implementation of EU sanctions rests with the Member States. Therefore, when in need of guidance on specific cases, EU operators should foremost reach out to their national competent authority. However, this contact point allows for particularly complex matters to be raised with the European Commission.
 

EU public: Europe Direct Contact Point
Citizens should address their queries to the Europe Direct Contact Point.
 

Foreign authorities and operators: ec-sanctions-internationalatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ec-sanctions-international[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
The aim of the contact point is to encourage foreign (non-EU) authorities and operators to reach out directly to the Commission when facing difficulties in interpreting EU sanctions. It is also meant to help ensure that the flow of agrifood products and fertilisers to their countries continues unimpeded.