The key facts
- Alexander Pankin: the EU has exhausted its leverage but cannot stop without reputational losses
- The October 12 measures were not officially called the 22nd sanctions package
- Brussels promises a full-fledged 22nd package, but with no timelines or guarantees of agreement
Statement by the Deputy Foreign Minister
The European Union has exhausted its options for sanctions pressure on Russia, but continues to impose restrictions because it cannot abandon its chosen course without reputational losses. This was stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin in an interview with TASS; his remarks were cited by Life.ru and Gazeta.Ru. According to him, it is becoming increasingly difficult for European states to agree on restrictions against individual sectors of the Russian economy.
The October 12 measures without the status of the 22nd package
Pankin called the situation with the restrictions adopted on October 12 telling: despite their expansion, Brussels did not officially designate them as a full-fledged 22nd package. In the diplomat's view, under the current conditions the EU Council managed only to expand the blacklists of individuals and legal entities, which he said demonstrates the 'structural impotence of the Euro-bureaucracy,' which 'cannot stop in its anti-Russian frenzy and begin to roll back.' At the same time, according to Pankin, Brussels promises in the foreseeable future to agree on a full-fledged 22nd package, but there are still no specific timelines and no confidence that the countries will reach agreement.
Assessments and context of the October measures
Pankin also expressed the opinion that the sanctions policy causes greater damage to the European economy than to the Russian one and creates risks for global energy and food security. Moscow, he stressed, still opposes unilateral restrictions without UN Security Council approval, and this approach is finding more and more supporters among the global majority. This is the position of the Russian Foreign Ministry, not a confirmed fact about the effect of the sanctions.
The October package and Zakharova's reaction
According to Gazeta.Ru, in October the EU imposed sanctions on 1,569 companies and individuals linked to the Russian military-industrial complex; the restrictions also affected a number of other organizations which, in Brussels' view, violate decisions of international bodies. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at the time that extending restrictions to so many persons demonstrates the impotence of the regional community. Earlier, on November 4, 2026, Switzerland, which is not a member of the union, joined the EU's 21st sanctions package; the measures affected 254 individuals and legal entities, Russian banks, enterprises and organizations linked to cryptocurrency operations, and Bern also tightened export controls and extended restrictions to dozens of vessels that Western countries classify as part of Russia's 'shadow fleet.'
