The European Union has imposed sanctions on five businessmen linked to Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.

The European Union is accelerating and expanding its sanctions regime to further erode Russia’s oil revenues by aggressively targeting its shadow fleet and closing loopholes in refined product exports.

WASHINGTON, DC – A bipartisan group of US senators introduced legislation aimed at imposing financial sanctions on foreign entities that continue to purchase Russian oil, seeking to choke off a major source of revenue for Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.

China buys Russian oil and gas at steep discounts while supplying Moscow with machinery and electronics as Western sanctions tighten.

The U.S. Administration has issued General License GL-115C, temporarily exempting a list of major Russian banks "related to civil nuclear energy" from U.S. sanctions. The text of the document was published on Wednesday on the official website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Russia’s crude oil output last month was well below its OPEC+ quota, as the country struggled to find buyers for its sanctioned barrels and Ukrainian drone attacks hampered refineries.

The European Council on Monday sanctioned five people and four organizations accused of supporting the country's so-called shadow fleet.

The EU has imposed sanctions on the high-profile oil trader Murtaza Lakhani for allegedly assisting Russia’s Rosneft in exporting crude and other petroleum products in breach of western restrictions. Lakhani is the best known trader to have been targeted by Brussels since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus had previously faced Western sanctions for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine