Rampant sanctions busting is overwhelming EU front-line states, Latvia says

“There’s a serious problem” with enforcement of wartime bans, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže tells POLITICO.

BRUSSELS — European Union member countries continue to tolerate the rampant evasion of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, making it harder for front-line states to enforce the measures, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže told POLITICO.

“There’s a serious problem on how EU countries are actually implementing sanctions and exporting stuff both to Russia and to Belarus,” Braže said in an interview after returning from a two-day trip to the Latgale region on Latvia's border with Russia and Belarus.

Well over two years into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine — and following the passage of 14 rounds of EU sanctions — enforcement remains a major headache for the 27-nation bloc.

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Researchers at the Kyiv School of Economics have found that much of the battlefield technology still reaching Russia is of Western origin.

Some shipments bound for Russia take a roundabout route via Turkey, the UAE or China. Others are trucked into Russia falsely declared as bound for countries like Kazakhstan. And some are simply concealed or mislabeled as they exit the EU.


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BRUSSELS — The European Union on Tuesday said it would step in after Hungary and Slovakia accused Ukraine of threatening their oil supplies with its partial ban on Russian crude exports passing through the country.

Kyiv last month adopted sanctions blocking the transit of pipeline crude sold by Moscow’s largest private oil firm, Lukoil, to Central Europe, sparking fears of supply shortages in Budapest and Bratislava.


Budapest relies on Moscow for 70 percent of its oil imports — and on Lukoil for half of that amount. Slovakia, which imported 88 percent of its crude from Russia last year, according to the Kpler market intelligence firm, has warned the Ukrainian measure could reduce the crude supplies for its primary refinery by 40 percent.

“This is an unacceptable step on the part of Ukraine, a country that wants to be a member of the European Union, and with a single decision puts the oil supply …. in fundamental danger,” Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said Monday.

Szijjártó escalated his war of words on Tuesday, vowing Hungary will block funds used to reimburse EU countries for military aid sent to Ukraine in protest over Kyiv's sanctions.

"As long as this issue is not resolved by Ukraine, everyone should forget about the payment of the €6.5 billion of the European Peace Facility compensation for arms transfers," the Hungarian foreign minister vowed.

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https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/07/26/war-in-ukraine-russian-forces-advance-in-the-donetsk-region_6699161_4.html




The Ukrainian army is facing significant difficulties. The front line's distortion bears witness to Russian forces' thrust in recent days. Russian advances are creating pincer movements in multiple areas in the Donetsk region. For the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) units, the threat of encirclement, rare because of the slowness of Russian movements, is now resurfacing as the invading army throws all its might to achieve its goal of conquering the whole of the Donetsk region before the wet season.

The Ukrainian site DeepStateMap, which maps the daily evolution of the frontline, shows its rapid evolution in the direction of Pokrovsk since July 20. The explanation suggested by a comment on the website is that the Ukrainian infantry brigade holding the town of Prohres was forced to make a chaotic retreat due to its unpreparedness. The 47th mechanized brigade, which came as reinforcements, was unable to hold Prohres because of a lack of infantry. Incidentally, the map shows Russian infantry advancing along the railroad line, which military analysts explained by Ukrainian engineers' inability to build obstacles on this infrastructure.

As a result, a pocket is currently forming north of the city, in which the 31st Ukrainian mechanized brigade's 1st and 3rd battalions risk being encircled. Meanwhile, the Russian army's 30th, 35th motorized rifle brigades and 27th motorized rifle division have gained 5 square kilometers towards the T 0504 road, a crucial logistical line connecting the towns of Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar, which are already in contact with Russian forces.

Rapid Russian advance

A larger pincer is also forming south of the city of Toretsk. Nikolai Mitrokhin, an independent Russian military analyst, called the situation "critical" for the AFU. "The Russian army's advance there is about five times faster than in other cities conquered so far," he stated.