Signs of tension between EU and US sanctions regimes could impede conflict regulation in Ukraine's Donbas. (c) Evan Golub/Zuma Press/PA Images. All rights reserved.On 14 June 2017, the US Senate passed a new bill calling for new sanctions on Russia, followed by a House bill on 25 July, while the European Union extended its existing sanctions regime on Russia on 28 June. On the face of it, both American and European sanctions regimes are linked to Russia’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, yet the Senate bill has generated much more heat because it would also penalise European companies doing business with Russia. What are the differences between these sanctions regimes, and what explains the current rift between the US and EU administrations on Russia?
On 28 June 2017, the EU Council formally extended European Union sanctions imposed on Russia. These “restrictive measures”, in the EU’s terminology, were adopted in the summer of 2014 and freeze assets of and impose travel restrictions for individuals “over their responsibility for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”. In July and September 2014, the EU additionally imposed sector-specific economic sanctions that limit Russian access to capital markets, impose an arms-trade ban, an export ban for dual-use goods that could be used for military purposes, and curtail Russian access to technologies that can be used for oil production and exploration. The state-owned oil firms Rosneft, Transneft, as well as the oil unit of Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, are affected, while the gas, space technology, and nuclear industry remain excluded from these sanctions.
In addition to these sanctions that are linked to Russia’s role in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, the EU Council, in June 2014, adopted economic sanctions that affect European economic interactions with Crimea following Russia’s annexation of the peninsula in March 2014. These sanctions include an import ban on goods from Crimea, as well as investment bans in economic sectors. The export of equipment for the production and exploration of oil, gas and mineral resources is also banned.
