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The European Union sealed a political deal on its next round of sanctions against Russia, the Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU announced late on Friday, just in time for the anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Most of the sanctions package had already been agreed on in recent days, but a dispute between Poland on the one hand and Italy and Germany on the other over curtailing imports of synthetic rubber — used mainly in the tire industry — had prevented EU ambassadors from signing off on the 10th round of sanctions against Russia.
In the end, the package that emerged after more than a week of behind-closed-doors wrangling was more notable for what was missing than any measures that will in reality ratchet up the price Putin has to pay for his war of aggression against Ukraine. Several controversial proposals had already been dropped, including sanctioning certain employees of state nuclear company Rosatom, banning Russian diamond imports, or making it easier to sanction the family members and the entourages of oligarchs — at least for now.
The sanctions package includes further trade restrictions on Russia, taking three further banks off the banking messaging system SWIFT and sanctioning an additional 100 people. The measures now need to be approved in writing.
Both Italy and Poland had dug their heels in over rubber, with Poland arguing that proposed quotas on synthetic rubber imports were too high and Italy saying they weren’t, EU diplomats said. Germany had also initially taken issue with the quotas but was ready to agree to them as long as there was a sufficient transition period, two EU diplomats said.
And Italy prevailed — at least when it comes to rubber.
The quota for synthetic rubber remained at the suggested level of some 560,000 metric tons until a transition period runs out at the end of June 2024. To appease Poland, however, the European Commission will set up a monitoring mechanism and report the inflow of that product from Russia on a monthly basis. If it finds irregularities, it can set up restrictive measures.
“We are very unhappy with this,” Polish Ambassador to the EU Andrzej Sadoś told POLITICO. “But we don’t want to block the whole package because of this synthetic rubber.”
But Warsaw doesn’t think it lost the fight. In exchange for Poland dropping its rubber resistance, the EU included other sanctions measures the Polish government had been calling for, Sadoś said. For example, the Commission promised to draw up additional grounds for sanctioning individuals or entities that take part in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, he said.
“This was our top priority,” Sadoś said.
Speculation on the motives of both sides ran high in the hours preceding the sealing of the deal. Italy, together with Germany, had cited competition concerns in previous meetings, according to an official close to the discussion. But not all believe that narrative. One senior EU diplomat said that Italy’s resistance to lower rubber quotas stemmed from “big business interests” like the impact on tire giant Pirelli, as well as national politics, where Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition is split on Russia.
Warsaw, meanwhile, has come under similar crossfire. “This makes sense for Poland’s rubber industry most of all,” a diplomat from another EU country said of Poland’s position, attributing Warsaw’s earlier refusal to agree to the package to “its own thinly veiled economic interests.”
Sadoś denied those claims.
“Now to tell that Poland is benefiting from the war, this is something which is unacceptable. This is a lie,” he said. “No one who is honest should benefit from the war.”
Jacopo Barigazzi contributed reporting.
