

Market Analysis
European Union countries have approved a 14th round of sanctions against Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine, diplomats confirmed on Thursday. The new measures include a ban on the re-export of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in EU waters.
Belgium, currently holding the EU presidency until July 1, stated on the X platform that the package aims to strengthen existing sanctions by closing loopholes.
After more than a month of debate, countries slightly diluted one of the European Commission's proposals under pressure from Germany. The discarded measure would have required EU companies' subsidiaries in third countries to prohibit re-exports of their products to Russia. The EU seeks to halt the transfer of dual-use technologies, such as microchips used in both civilian and military applications.
An EU diplomat noted that Germany requested an impact assessment, leaving open the possibility of reintroducing the measure at a later stage.
This ban on trans-shipments marks the EU's first restriction on LNG. However, experts in the gas market suggest its impact will be minimal, given that Europe continues to import Russian gas directly. Moreover, trans-shipments of Russian LNG through EU ports to Asia represent only about 10% of total Russian LNG exports.
Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.