On February 9, the European Commission (EC) officially confirmed the plan to upgrade the scale of the economic war against Russia. According to the latest proposed proposal, Europe wants to completely eliminate the "oil price ceiling" mechanism that is currently being applied, to switch to a more thorough and tougher ban directly targeting sea transport.
According to this new mechanism, if approved, European Union (EU) companies will be completely banned from providing insurance, finance, transportation or logistics services for Russian oil shipments, regardless of the selling price.
This means that a coalition of European countries will block all Russian oil tankers from docking at ports or using any services of this bloc during the time the ban takes effect, instead of just restricting based on selling prices as before.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on member states to quickly approve this proposal.
In her statement, she emphasized the core objective of the new measure: "This ban will further reduce Russia's energy revenue and make it more difficult for this country to find oil buyers. Because sea transport is a global business activity, we propose to issue this comprehensive ban in close coordination with the same-minded partners in the G7 group.
A noteworthy point in this sanction package is the focus on destroying Russia's "dark fleet". The sanctions list is expected to add 43 ships, bringing the total number of ships on the EU blacklist to 640.
Not only stopping at crude oil, the EU also proposed banning the provision of maintenance services and other technical services to Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers and icebreakers. This move is to complement the LNG import ban agreed upon in the previous 19th sanction package, directly hindering gas export projects in the Arctic.
This proposal was made in the context that the Russian economy is beginning to be hit by prolonged sanctions. According to data from the European Commission, fiscal revenue from Russia's oil and gas in 2025 decreased by 24% compared to the previous year, falling to the lowest level since 2020, causing the budget deficit to widen.
It is forecast that Moscow's January 2026 revenue will also hit a bottom since the conflict began. Currently, interest rates in Russia are hovering at a very high level of 16% and inflation shows no signs of cooling down.
European officials believe that the transition from a price ceiling mechanism to a comprehensive service embargo is a necessary step when Russia has not shown any signs of wanting to find a solution to end the conflict. However, to officially take effect, this proposal needs to receive absolute consensus from all EU member states.
