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| EU considers removing banks from SWIFT system as part of sanctions |
| Brusel, 26.05.2025 |
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| The European Union (EU) is considering removing more than 20 more banks from the international payment system SWIFT. It also plans to lower the price cap for Russian oil and ban the Nord Stream gas pipeline as part of a new sanctions package aimed at increasing pressure on Moscow to end its war in Ukraine, TASR reported, citing Bloomberg.
The European Commission is consulting member states on the proposals, according to sources familiar with the plans who declined to be named. A decision on the timing of possible restrictions has not yet been made. The EU sanctions require the support of all member states and can change before they are formally submitted and approved.
The EU is considering additional transaction bans for about two dozen banks and new trade restrictions worth about 2.5 billion euros as it seeks to further limit Russia's income and its ability to access technologies needed to produce weapons.
As part of the package under discussion, the Commission plans to propose lowering the G7 (US, Canada, Japan, Britain, Germany, Italy and France) ceiling on oil prices to around $45 (€39.82) per barrel (159 litres) from the current $60.
The move is likely to require US support. Under the agreed system, transport and insurance providers can only offer services to Russian oil customers if the price is below this ceiling.
G7 finance ministers failed to reach an agreement on lowering the ceiling at a meeting in Banff, Canada, this week.
The discussions come as US President Donald Trump has urged Moscow and Kiev to hold direct talks on a ceasefire and peace deal. Trump has so far refrained from imposing new sanctions on Russia despite repeatedly threatening to do so. Sanctions imposed under former US President Joe Biden remain in place.
In the case of the Nord Stream pipelines, however, the EU’s sanctions plan has won support from Germany. Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently said he supports the Commission’s proposal to “start working on European measures against the Nord Stream pipelines.”
The sanctions could halt debates about reviving the pipelines, which have intensified as Trump has sought to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. But even without a formal ban, the Nord Stream pipelines, which were partially damaged by explosions in 2022, are unlikely to be activated anytime soon.
The sanctions would add weight to Europe’s position that it does not want any meaningful return of Russian gas pipelines. The bloc plans to phase out Russian fossil fuels by the end of 2027.
In addition, the EU is seeking to expand its sanctions on Russia’s shadowy oil tanker fleet and is considering further restrictions on creditors allegedly aiding Moscow’s war effort, as well as Russia’s Foreign Direct Investment Fund, the sources said.
The bloc also wants to include clauses to protect European companies from arbitration under bilateral investment treaties in its next sanctions package, the 18th since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the sources added.
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