BRUSSELS — EU countries reached a deal Thursday on a sweeping 21st sanctions package against Moscow, but only by allowing Greece to keep sending Russian gas to countries outside the bloc.
The final sticking point — a proposed ban on shipping Russian gas outside the EU — was resolved through a limited exemption for contracts signed before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while prohibiting EU operators from entering into new ones, two EU diplomats said, speaking anonymously to discuss the agreement.
The bloc also agreed to freeze its price cap on Russian crude oil for 12 months, the diplomats added. The cap currently stands at $44.10 a barrel and was set to rise because of the war in Iran and an automatic recalculation happening every six months.
Greece had initially resisted the proposed ban on shipping Russian gas to customers outside the bloc, arguing that it went beyond what EU leaders had previously agreed and would be ineffective because vessels could simply re-register abroad.
