As the Russia-Ukraine conflict rages on with no peace agreement in sight, the European Union (EU) has proposed a new raft of sanctions against Russia to cripple the country’s ability to finance its military operations in Ukraine. The European Commission’s proposal for the 19th package of sanctions not only deepens the shadow fleet sweep with 180 new vessel listings, but also tightens the energy noose on the Kremlin with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) ban, marking a turning point in the EU’s attempt to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels.

Since the Ukraine crisis began, the European Union has designed and adopted various bundles of sanctions to force the Russian Federation to end the conflict, including measures to curtail its dependence on Russian energy supplies, which led to the rewriting of the global oil map .