The EU’s diplomatic service has, for the first time, proposed adding ports in third countries to its Russia sanctions regime, Reuters reported Monday, citing a document outlining measures for a 20th package of restrictions.
A draft prepared by the European External Action Service together with the European Commission names two facilities - Georgia’s Kulevi port and Indonesia’s Karimun port. The document says both terminals have been involved in transshipping Russian oil to circumvent Western sanctions.
Georgia’s Kulevi port began receiving Russian oil in October last year, when the country’s first full-cycle refinery went online. According to an investigation by Georgian journalists, at least 19 tankers from Russia’s “shadow fleet” have called at Georgian ports — including Kulevi, Batumi and Poti - over the past two years. The ships switched off their automatic identification systems upon entering Georgian territorial waters, a common indicator of sanctions evasion.
In 2025, the Indonesian terminal at Karimun became the largest transshipment hub for Russian petroleum products. The port lies in a free-trade zone roughly 37 kilometers (23 miles) from Singapore and is not overseen by Indonesian authorities. There, Russian oil is mixed with crude from other countries, reclassified as Indonesian product and shipped to Malaysia, Singapore and China. According to Ukrainian intelligence, 590,000 tons of fuel oil from Russia’s Ust-Luga port have passed through Karimun since the start of the year.
The EU has said it is preparing a 20th package of sanctions against Russia, which it aims to adopt by February 24 — the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In December, the bloc added 41 tankers to its sanctions list, bringing the total number of sanctioned vessels to nearly 600. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said the bloc intends to impose monthly restrictions on ships carrying Russian oil.
