Saturday, September 20, 2025

Anti-Russian sanctions

20 Sep, 09:36

EU looks to restrict Russian oil supplies via Druzhba pipeline — Bloomberg

According to the sources, these plans are separate from a proposed 19th sanctions package on Russia that would affect Russian LNG and oil tankers that the European Commission (EC) views as the country’s shadow fleet
 
 
NEW YORK, September 20. /TASS/. The European Union is mulling imposing trade restrictions on continued Russian fuel imports via the Druzhba pipeline feeding Hungary and Slovakia, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
  •  According to them, these plans are separate from a proposed 19th sanctions package on Russia that would affect Russian LNG and oil tankers that the European Commission (EC) views as the country’s shadow fleet.
Unlike sanctions which need the support of everybody in the EU, the news agency continued, trade measures such as tariffs would only require the backing of a majority of member states.  
  • This is how the EU expects to meet a key demand from U.S. President Donald Trump who called for tariffs on China and India as punishment for buying Russian crude despite opposition from Budapest and Bratislava.

Earlier on Saturday, European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis announced that even as the EU’s new package of anti-Russian sanctions will not target Russian oil purchases, it will affect LNG supplies. He stressed that work on the phase out of Russian fossil fuels would continue, but did not specify the timeframes.

Earlier, the EC proposed abandoning Russian LNG by the beginning of 2027, or a year earlier than originally planned.

 

Russian drone over Romania is an early test of NATO's 'Eastern Sentry'  operation - Defense One
  
19 Sep, 08:12 

NATO Eastern Sentry operation to kick off in Poland, Romania — Finnish president

Speaking of unmanned aerial vehicles potentially entering the country’s airspace, Alexander Stubb noted that Finland is "prepared enough" to deflect this threat

STOCKHOLM, September 19. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s operation Eastern Sentry will kick off at the alliance’s south-eastern flank, in Poland and Romania, Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said.

"As far as the Eastern Sentry is concerned, I think, it will start very much at the south-eastern flank of the alliance, so we are talking, you know, Romania, Poland. And then we start moving up through the Baltic states, Finland, and up to the high North in Norway," the Finnish leader said at the Helsinki Security Forum.

Speaking of unmanned aerial vehicles potentially entering the country’s airspace, Stubb noted that Finland is "prepared enough" to deflect this threat. According to the Finnish president, NATO countries have "a lot to learn" from Ukraine - in terms of the use of drones and the means of fighting them as well as in "what kind of missiles to use or where." "I am sure that a lot of European states, including Finland, will be doing close cooperation on drones," he added.

On September 12, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance was launching Operation Eastern Sentry, which was the result of consultations on Article 4 of the NATO Treaty on September 10 at Poland’s request in connection with an incident involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the country. Denmark, France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden, among others, plan to participate.

On the morning of September 10, Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command announced the destruction of several objects identified as unmanned aerial vehicles that had violated national airspace. According to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, nineteen violations of the country’s airspace were reported overnight to September 10. In response to the incident, NATO, at Poland’s request, invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty, launching consultations among alliance members.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that during the night of September 9-10, Russian forces targeted Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in the Ivano-Frankovsk, Khmelnitsky, and Zhitomir regions, as well as in Vinnitsa and Lvov. The ministry emphasized that no targets within Polish territory were planned for destruction. It also noted that the UAVs allegedly crossing into Polish airspace had a maximum range of 700 kilometers. The agency expressed its readiness to hold consultations with Poland regarding the incident.

Putin says 100,000 troops participate in Russia-Belarus military drills 

Eight EU countries continue to import Russian gas, EC says
European Commission Spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen emphasized that the EC has no information about the final destination of these supplies
 Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 19, 2025 | Critical Threats

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