Six Russian oil tankers being built at the Zvezda shipyard have been included in US sanctions among 183 total affected vessels. This is the first time tankers have been blacklisted before having set sail. The sanctions also include companies purchasing vessels. The inclusion of unfinished vessels in sanctions could increase the costs for Russia to complete their construction and make it much more challenging to implement them.
Russia’s loyal ally in the EU, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, said: “It’s time to throw sanctions out the window and establish relations with the Russians without sanctions.”
However, the EU is developing additional measures involving the Belgian king to maintain Russian sanctions after Hungary threatened to veto their extension. With around €190B in Russian assets physically stored in Belgium, one contingency is to use a wartime decree passed in 1944 that allows King Philippe to block the removal of assets from the country in extraordinary circumstances.