Chinese refineries, the target of European sanctions against Russia?

The European Union is expected to announce today the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, according to the statement of the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, who emphasized to the French press that the measures are coordinated for the first time directly with the US President Donald Trump. The official from Paris emphasized that the new restrictions are designed to exert colossal pressure on Moscow, the objective being to force the Kremlin to accept a ceasefire.

The announcement comes in a tense context, marked by the intensification of international efforts to isolate Russia economically and politically, while Western allies align their strategies to block the sources of financing of the war machine.

Meanwhile, Britain and Japan have expanded their blacklists with new entities and individuals, with the London government targeting "Brianski Zavod” and the "Anozit” company, and the Tokyo government imposing additional sanctions against 48 organizations and 14 Russian citizens, including the Ural automobile plant and the Chelyabinsk heavy equipment plant.

International media reported that Brussels is considering including independent refineries in China in the new package, which would be a significant step in expanding the scope of sanctions to non-Western economic actors that indirectly collaborate with Russia. The previous package, adopted in July 2025, targeted companies from third countries that supply industrial products to Moscow, banning transactions with two Chinese banks and sanctioning the Indian refinery Nayara Energy, thus signaling Brussels' determination to minimize alternative networks through which Russia fuels its economy. The intensification of these measures confirms that the European Union and its strategic partners are determined to maintain their unity and to tighten the pressure on the Kremlin, in an attempt to weaken Moscow's resistance internationally and to create the premises for a diplomatic solution.