Callas: Western Sanctions Have Cost Russia 1.3 Trillion Euros
- 15.06.2026, 22:27
The EU is already working on its 21st package of restrictions.
During the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council held in Luxembourg on Monday, June 15, additional sanctions were approved against 34 individuals and 47 entities in the Russian Federation, which will target the Russian military-industrial complex, the “shadow fleet,” as well as the hybrid warfare networks operated by Russia. This was announced by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas during the closing press conference, reports DW.
At the same time, Kallas emphasized that ministers continued working on the 21st sanctions package in parallel and promised that its preparation “should move forward quickly.” According to some reports, the new sanctions package against Russia could be approved as early as July.
“Every restrictive measure narrows Russia’s room for maneuver, and the numbers speak for themselves. Western sanctions have already cost Russia approximately 1 to 1.3 trillion euros,” Kallas said, emphasizing that this money was not spent on waging war against Ukraine.
In addition, she said, the EU Council “has imposed sanctions against several Chinese organizations,” as Beijing remains a “decisive factor” contributing to Russia’s war against Ukraine. As previously reported, according to European diplomats, Brussels has evidence that China has trained hundreds of Russian soldiers to participate in the war against Ukraine. According to Kallas, the foreign ministers of EU member states also “confirmed reports that the Chinese military is training Russian military personnel for combat operations in Ukraine.” “We will carefully assess all the implications,” the EU’s top diplomat promised.
The EU is also closely considering the inclusion in the 21st sanctions package of a European Commission proposal, prepared at Estonia’s initiative, to ban Russians who have fought in Ukraine from entering the EU. As Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated before the start of the EU Council meeting, “We are talking about more than 600,000 Russian combatants who could come to Europe and destabilize our security.” “We know that Russian intelligence services are already sending their agents of influence, who are doing a lot of bad things here,” the minister said.
Kallas stated that the EU will be able to identify all Russian combatants, as it possesses the relevant intelligence data. “Although I am not an expert on visa issues, I am convinced that we can impose an entry ban on these people into the Schengen Area—I mean a complete list of individuals who participated in the war. Because this is not just a matter of the war in Ukraine, but also of our own security,” Kallas emphasized.
At the request of a DW correspondent, Kallas commented on the performance in Luxembourg by the pro-Kremlin Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko on the day when Kyiv suffered yet another devastating Russian attack that claimed lives and caused serious damage to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra—a UNESCO World Heritage Site
“Given that Russia has been bombing cultural heritage sites for the fifth consecutive year, we must not roll out the red carpet for Russian cultural figures,” the head of European diplomacy stated.
At the same time, she noted that not all EU member states take this into account because “they do not feel that the war has come to their doorstep.” Callas noted that there are no sanctions or bans against Russian artists performing in the EU, so each member state makes such decisions on its own. “It’s a shame when this happens,” she acknowledged, adding that this issue should be discussed again at the EU level.