EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is preparing what she says could become the bloc’s most far-reaching sanctions package against Russia since the war in Ukraine began,

signalling a renewed effort to tighten the economic pressure on Moscow.

In an interview with Germany’s Die Welt, Kallas said she plans to put forward a major expansion of the EU sanctions regime this autumn. If approved by member states, the package would increase the number of sanctioned Russian individuals, companies and organisations by roughly one third.

“This autumn, I will present the most comprehensive sanctions list since the start of the war,” Kallas said. “If adopted, the number of sanctioned Russian individuals, companies, and organisations will immediately increase by a third.”

She argued that the EU should continue escalating pressure until the Kremlin agrees to end the war against Ukraine.

“Pressure must be intensified until Russia ends the war,” Kallas said.

The proposed expansion would mark a significant enlargement of an already extensive European sanctions regime. The EU has adopted 21 sanctions packages against Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with measures currently covering almost 3,000 individuals and entities.

Kallas also pointed to the economic cost of the sanctions imposed so far, arguing that European restrictions have inflicted substantial damage on Russia’s ability to sustain its war effort.

According to the EU foreign affairs chief, the sanctions have cost the Russian war machine around €1 trillion.

Her comments come as European governments continue to debate how far sanctions can be tightened while maintaining unity among the bloc’s 27 member states. The next package is expected to focus on expanding the list of targeted individuals and organisations, further increasing the pressure on Russia’s economy and military infrastructure.

For Brussels, the message is increasingly clear: sanctions are not being treated as a one-off response to the invasion, but as an evolving instrument of pressure designed to raise the cost of the war for Moscow.

Kallas’s planned package will now face negotiations among EU governments, where unanimity is required for sanctions decisions to be adopted. Photo by Renee Altrov, Wikimedia commons.