【Russia vows strong countermeasures against EU's 20th round of sanctions, EU again implicating China】

On April 24, Maria Zakharova, official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that Russia would take firm retaliatory measures immediately after the EU approves its 20th comprehensive package of sanctions against Russia.

On April 23, European Council President Costa announced that the Council of the EU had adopted the 20th round of sanctions against Russia and ultimately approved a loan of €90 billion to Ukraine.

The EU's 20th round of sanctions against Russia includes:

- Sanctions targeting 36 Russian oil companies. An additional 46 vessels are banned from entering EU ports or receiving maritime services. A total of 632 vessels are now under sanctions.

- Prohibition on providing maintenance and other services for Russian oil tankers and liquefied natural gas icebreakers. These vessels may not be sold to Russia either.

- Prohibition on conducting business with the Russian ports of Murmansk and Tuapse, as well as the Karimun oil terminal in Indonesia.

- Prohibition on transactions with 20 Russian banks.

- Sanctions targeting Kyrgyz cryptocurrency platforms linked to the A7A5 stablecoin.

- Complete ban on Russian cryptocurrency services and cryptocurrency asset trading platforms.

- Sanctions imposed on 16 companies from China, the UAE, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus for supplying dual-use items to Russia. Additionally, 60 enterprises from Russia, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, and the UAE face export restrictions.

- Ban on exporting CNC machines and radio equipment to Kyrgyzstan to prevent their re-export to Russia.

- Implementation of import quotas for ammonia.

- Expansion of broadcasting bans: the ban now also applies to clone websites of prohibited Russian media outlets.

- Strengthened diamond controls: importers must prove diamonds are unrelated to Russia.

- Chinese state-owned enterprises have been sanctioned for the first time due to their involvement in producing military goods in Belarus.

Micro-comment

This round of EU sanctions represents an upgraded version—highly refined, comprehensive in coverage, and extending to third parties. It goes beyond traditional energy and financial unilateral blockades, instead integrating logistics, crypto-finance, high-end manufacturing, luxury raw materials, media and public opinion across multiple domains. For the first time, it broadly sanctions entities in third countries. The intensity and targeting of these sanctions have significantly increased. The most notable shift lies in punishing Russia while simultaneously pressuring the entire world to cut off supplies to Russia—emphasizing political coercion over actual economic destruction. This inevitably triggers countermeasures and retaliation from affected third parties.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1863357474069504/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.