Britain has become the first country to sanction all ten of Russia's major oil producers, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced on Thursday, as he arrived at the European Political Community summit in Dublin.
The new package sanctions Slavneft, the last of Russia's ten largest oil producers not already under British sanctions, alongside shadow fleet vessels involved in transporting Russian oil and liquefied natural gas, major coal companies and Rosneft's flagship Arctic oil and gas project, LLC Vostok Oil. The government said the measures target nearly every part of the energy revenue chain, from producers and trading networks to supply chains and vessels, to further constrain Russia's ability to finance its war in Ukraine.
Burnham announced the package as leaders from around 50 countries gathered in Dublin for the ninth meeting of the European Political Community, with Ukraine at the centre of discussions following two days of U.S.-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi this week. The prime minister will co-chair a small group meeting on Ukraine alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a defence and security roundtable with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
"Peace talks on Ukraine have progressed but now is not the time for complacency - we must continue to ramp up pressure on Russia to agree a full and immediate ceasefire," Burnham said. "That is why the UK has announced a sweep of stinging new sanctions to turn the screws on Russia's oil revenues and drive forward an end to the Kremlin's needless war."
Burnham said he would stress the importance of robust and legally binding security guarantees for Ukraine as a fundamental part of any peace process, and back Zelenskyy's calls for a full and immediate ceasefire. The European Union is separately set to approve its own new sanctions against Russia on Monday.
