The European Union's sanctions on vessels transporting Russian grain, along with Turkey's wheat import ban, impacted Russian grain exports at the end of 2024, the country's central bank said on Thursday.

The EU has slapped 15 rounds of sanctions on Russia since it's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and member states are negotiating a 16th. But Moscow has used a variety of tricks to evade sanctions and divert goods and money to Russia, including convoluted financial schemes.

At the same time, the slow rollout frustrates European fertilizer producers, who say Moscow is being given more time to keep on flooding the market. Last year, the EU imported 6.17 million metric tons of Russian fertilizer worth €2.12 billion — the highest volume since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to Eurostat and customs data.

Uncertainty in U.S. Policy on Ukraine. While the U.S. remains Ukraine’s largest military backer, Trump has frequently criticized aid to Kyiv and sent mixed signals on future sup

The bloc is also proposing restrictions on more software, hardware and other technologies used in weapons systems.

The European Union will moved forward with a renewal on Russian sanctions after a deal was struck with Hungary, according to multiple reports.

The European Commission included restrictions on sales of video games and joysticks to Russia in its 16th package of sanctions on Moscow, the proposal document showed.

The European Union proposed imposing tariffs on the remaining agricultural products coming from Russia and Belarus that aren’t already facing duties, as well as some nitrogen-based fertilizers.

The EU renewed sanctions on Russia and called for unity to respond to Donald Trump's transactional approach. The US president's warning to Moscow to end the war or face more penalties was more in line with EU policy.

Poland is targeting companies importing Russian fertilisers, in a bid to prevent the European Union from developing another dependency on Moscow for a key resource.

The European Union is considering a ban on Russian aluminum imports, along with other sanctions, but faces growing opposition from some member states.