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The European Commission has presented the EU's 21st package of sanctions against Russia. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on June 9 that it would focus on sectors including energy, financial services, crypto and trade. The previous, 20th sanctions package was adopted in April 2026. The new measures must be approved by all 27 EU member states.

Von der Leyen also said the EU would issue the first disbursement of a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, approved in April, before the end of this month. "By the end of this month, we will provide Ukraine with 6 billion euros for drones and more than 3 billion euros worth of macro-financial assistance," said Commission president.

Although in December 2025 the European Union failed to agree on using – in effect confiscating — Russia's sovereign reserves as collateral for the loan to Ukraine, the EU Council regulation subsequently adopted "allows for the interpretation that Ukraine's repayment of the loan could be carried out at the expense of the Bank of Russia's assets, which would be an illegal and covert form of using assets," Russia's Central Bank said in May, when it filed a suit with the EU's General Court.

Among the new measures EU has proposed:

• listing a further 30 "shadow fleet' vessels;
• first-ever restrictions on vessels that assist the shadow fleet, such as those providing bunkering services;
• restrictions on ports, airports, refineries that trade or process Russian oil;
• expanding transaction bans to a further 31 Russian banks;
• transaction bans on 20 banks, crypto firms and oil traders in third countries over their dealings with sanctioned Russian entities and individuals or their role in circumventing existing restrictions.

Separately, the European Commission has proposed freezing the current price cap on Russian crude oil — $44,10 a barrel — until January 2027, rather than allowing the automatic increase that higher prices, driven by the Strait of Hormuz crisis, would otherwise trigger.

Finally, Brussels has for the first time proposed sanctions against Russia's fishing industry. "We propose substantial restrictions on imports on some fish products, and a complete ban on others, including cod. And we will be aligning trade restrictions for Belarus. So it cannot serve as a backdoor for Russian trade," von der Leyen said.