New EU sanctions not to limit Russian energy imports – media

The new package of EU sanctions against Russia will not limit Russian energy imports, Politico said on Tuesday.

"The latest round of sanctions is not expected to include major new restrictions on the energy sales," Politico said, citing four European diplomats as its sources.

"Having already committed to a phaseout of oil and gas imports, the bloc is increasingly aware it is Washington, not Brussels, that is best placed to turn the screws [on Russia]," it said.

"The most painful consequences for Moscow would come if secondary sanctions on companies or countries that do business with Russia are imposed, but the real impact of those will come from the U.S.," Politico said.

At the same time, the 19th package of EU sanctions might prohibit Russian diplomats from freely moving around the Schengen area, on which Czechia is insisting among others, it said. "I will keep proposing to end the free movement of Russian diplomats in Schengen," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told Politico.

Politico also said that the EU was likely to overcome the political resistance of Slovakia and Hungary and to gain unanimous support for the 19th package. "Just look at what's happened the last 18 times," it said.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said earlier that the 19th package of sanctions against Russia was being prepared for September, and the EU foreign and defense ministers would discuss it at an informal meeting in Copenhagen on August 28-30.