The European Union has proposed a sweeping 21st package of sanctions against Russia, with a record-setting wave of bank listings at its core and new measures targeting cryptocurrency platforms, oil traders, and shadow fleet vessels, Reuters reported.

EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas announced the package Tuesday, saying the bloc intends to list nearly 90 banks in a single move, making it the largest such bank-listing tranche to date and bringing the total number of blacklisted Russian banks to more than 100, or more than half of Russia’s 213 internationally-linked lenders, according to Reuters. Altogether, the EU is proposing a total of 170 new sanctions designations covering individuals and entities. 

“We intend to deal a heavy blow to Russia’s financial sector,” Kallas said in a post on X.

Russia’s major banks were cut off from SWIFT, the secure global financial messaging system, in 2022, but Russian companies have since relied on a broad network of smaller lenders to continue trading and evade Western restrictions, according to the report. The new bank listings target that network directly. An anonymous EU diplomatic source told Reuters the aim was to weaken Russia’s financial system and incentivize Moscow to negotiate a peace settlement with Ukraine.

Targeted banks would face asset freezes and transaction and travel bans, the news agency said. Transaction bans are separately proposed for 35 banks, four of which are located outside Russia. 

The package proposes transaction bans on 11 cryptocurrency platforms that have helped Russia circumvent Western restrictions. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the measures also lay the groundwork for country-level crypto bans, enabling the EU to target entire jurisdictions that host platforms facilitating Russian sanctions evasion. Kyrgyzstan was the first third country designated under the EU’s anti-circumvention tool, in part for its role in Russian cryptocurrency transactions, according to the report.

The Commission is separately proposing to freeze the oil price cap at its current level of $44.10 per barrel for six months to avoid inadvertently boosting Russian revenues during the ongoing Iran conflict, with Brent crude futures trading above $90 a barrel, Reuters said. The package also lists a third-country oil refiner and oil traders.

Additional measures include tighter restrictions on Russian liquefied natural gas, listings of 30 more shadow fleet vessels with expanded designation criteria covering ships that refuel sanctioned vessels or offload their cargo, import restrictions on fish, and import and export curbs on high-performance metal alloys used in defense and aerospace.