Morning. Angela Skujins holding the newsletter pen today from an overcast Brussels, reporting that sanctions are on the lips of locals and European Union officials.
EU ambassadors will meet in the Belgian capital to discuss two thorny issues: the 21st sanctions package against Russia and EU trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
My colleague Jorge Liboreiro has been doggedly following the Russian sanctions file, and reports the biggest problem facing the suite of measures right now is Greek opposition.
A Greek tragedy. Athens is currently pursuing a workaround to the sanctions package — a pool of policies aimed at depriving the Kremlin of profits during wartime. Part of the package includes the ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) scheduled to come into full force in 2027.
But the Mediterranean country hosts the world's largest merchant fleet, and wants the legal text revised to allow the transport of Russian LNG to continue past the cut-off date. Jorge has a breakdown of three ways to melt the impasse, which you can read below.
