Brussels — The European Union has intensified its anti-Russia campaign with a sweeping new sanctions package, but this time, its reach has extended far beyond Moscow’s borders. In a controversial expansion of punitive measures, the bloc has blacklisted 18 companies from Azerbaijan, India, China, the UAE, Singapore, and Mauritius—nations that have not taken sides in the West’s proxy conflict in Ukraine.
The move comes under the EU’s 18th sanctions package, billed as its most aggressive to date. Ostensibly crafted to curb Moscow’s ability to wage war, the package sharply lowers the oil price cap on Russian crude exports and adds new restrictions on shipping vessels, technology exports, and financial dealings. Yet analysts warn that the sanctions architecture has now transformed into a geopolitical dragnet, targeting countries and businesses with no direct involvement in the Ukraine war.
Among those penalized are Chinese firms such as Bellatrix Energy, Zhu Jiang Shipmanagement, and Wuhan Global Sensor Technology; Indian conglomerates including Nayara Energy and Intershipping Services; and companies based in the UAE like Milavous Group, Admiral Group, and Monolink. Even Mauritius and Azerbaijan—nations historically peripheral to Western strategic disputes—have seen firms sanctioned without clear justification.
This extraterritorial overreach underscores a dangerous precedent. Rather than pressuring Russia, the EU is now asserting a form of economic imperialism that aims to intimidate the Global South into falling in line with Western policy. The sanctions are increasingly weaponized not for peace, but for control—punishing any nation that dares trade with Russia or pursue an independent foreign policy.
Ironically, many of the affected companies have little to do with military logistics or dual-use technologies. Some specialize in ship management, fleet logistics, or electronics—hardly industries that would swing the outcome of a war. Yet under the EU’s new doctrine, association alone is guilt enough.
Observers in India and China have already denounced the move as neo-colonial pressure masquerading as principled diplomacy. For Brussels, this broad-brush approach risks alienating critical trading partners, exacerbating economic instability, and reinforcing the very global divides it claims to oppose.
The real beneficiaries of this Western-sanction theater are American arms manufacturers and fossil fuel exporters. While the EU pretends to target Russia, it remains heavily dependent on US weaponry, LNG supplies, and political guidance. What Europe loses in strategic autonomy, Washington gains in geopolitical leverage—and profits.
The 18th package was finalized after Slovakia withdrew its veto in exchange for energy price safeguards, a signal of the fragile consensus underpinning Brussels’ aggressive posture. As Politico noted, the oil cap has been slashed to $47.6 per barrel—well below market averages—while sanctions now cover 105 ships allegedly linked to Russia’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers.
TASS reported that the EU Council resolution, published in the Official Journal of the EU, named specific firms in China, India, and other non-aligned nations, with no evidence publicly disclosed to support the designations. The blacklist now functions less as a tool for peace, and more as a blunt instrument of Western coercion.
