The sanctions office will strengthen coordination between member states to deliver a more effective application of these restrictive measures, bringing together several aspects of the sanctions lifecycle, including policy design, implementation, enforcement support and anti-circumvention.

Specifically, the office seeks to close loopholes that allow Russia to keep operating, maximizing the impact of these restrictions on the Russian economy.

Sitting inside the office, a new crypto task force was created to deal with the utilization of digital assets to skirt sanctions, an area where the EU has been especially active since July, when the bloc targeted the complete Russian crypto ecosystem in its 20th sanctions package.

“We know that…