EU agrees 21st sanctions package against Russia, targeting 32 more banks, crypto firms and oil trading platforms

Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that the European Union has agreed its 21st package of anti-Russian sanctions. For high-risk payment businesses, the important part is straightforward: the list now reaches further into banking, crypto, and oil-trading infrastructure, which is exactly where payment routes tend to get messy.

1. Von der Leyen said the package was approved by the EU, after media reports that it had been adopted in a reduced form because member states had not reached consensus. She posted the update on X.
2. According to her, the new measures will blacklist another 32 Russian banks. That matters for PSPs and acquirers because additional banking restrictions usually mean more payment routing friction, more account reviews, and more counterparties becoming off-limits.
3. The package also targets cryptocurrency companies and platforms where oil is traded. For anyone in high-risk payments, that is the familiar pattern: when sanctions extend beyond classic banking names, compliance teams end up looking at wallets, brokers, exchanges, intermediaries, and the payment flows around them.
4. Von der Leyen said the oil price cap adjustment will be frozen for a year, so Russia does not benefit from oil price swings. She also said sanctions will be introduced against ships in the “shadow fleet.”
5. She added that the EU has taken an important step toward a formal ban on entry for Russian combatants. That part is political; the payment-relevant takeaway is that the package is not limited to one sector and is still widening the perimeter.