EU nearly out of means to sanction Russia: Borrell

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The European Union has nearly exhausted its capacity to impose further sanctions on Russia, but Brussels may still continue boosting its financial and military aid for Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Friday.

"There is not much more to do from the point of view of sanctions, but we can continue to increase financial and military support," Borrell told the Euractiv news website after an informal meeting of EU development ministers in Stockholm.

According to Brussels' top diplomat, it would have been "strange" that one year into the Ukraine war, there would be many options left. Furthermore, Borrel said the bloc was "getting to the end of the ladder," as quoted by the news portal.

The latest package of sanctions was imposed on Russia on February 24, marking the first anniversary of the Ukraine war, and the 10th package of sanctions against Russia on February 24.

Russia has been facing sanctions pressure that the United States, the European Union, and their allies have been piling on it since the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022.

The United Nations estimated in its January World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) report that the Russian economy contracted by just about 3% last year as opposed to the projected 15%.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of containing and weakening Moscow is part of the West's long-term strategy, while sanctions have instead hit the entire global economy and worsened the lives of millions of people.

"We will introduce with our G7 partners an additional price cap on Russian petroleum products, and by February 24 — exactly one year since the invasion started — we aim to have the tenth package of sanctions in place," Von der Leyen said.

Concurrently, a report published by The Economist revealed that the price cap on Russian gas is proving to be a flop for the West.

Sales of Russian crude have not decreased as the West had hoped, and shipments have dodged European ports and headed to China and India instead.

In a report by The Economist, this moves towards the point of the price cap: to keep Russian crude on the market and thus keep the market stable but to curb its profits through the price. 

In turn, this offers buyers negotiating power, considering that the longer export routes also pose higher freight costs which Russia has to compensate.