At a meeting of EU permanent representatives held in Brussels, several member states put forward a proposal to impose restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats across the European Union. The suggestion comes as part of the discussions around the 18th sanctions package against Russia, initially introduced by the European Commission last week. The package is expected to receive swift approval from the member states.

The Commission also presented a number of adjustments to the proposed sanctions. These amendments are specifically directed at software used in the financial services sector. Alongside this, new restrictions targeting Belarus were introduced, citing its ongoing support for Russia’s military actions against Ukraine.

The talks also touched on the issue of cryptocurrencies and the importance of closing loopholes that could enable the circumvention of sanctions. Another major point of discussion was the coordinated approach with the G7 on enforcing the price cap on Russian oil exports. While the current ceiling stands at per barrel, the Commission has proposed lowering it to . However, this suggestion has raised concerns among some EU representatives.