Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. We are coming to you live from London. I'm Rob Young.

Three and a half years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European Union countries have agreed to slap yet more sanctions on Moscow.

This is the EU's 18th package of sanctions, its 18th attempt to squeeze

Russia's economy in the hope that changes the Kremlin's behaviour. So there's a plan to reduce

the maximum price that countries are allowed to pay Russia for its exported oil, from $60 a barrel

now to just under $48. Also about 100 oil tankers from Russia's so-called

shadow fleet to be sanctioned, and there'll be a ban on oil products made from Russian crude,

but which are refined in third countries such as Turkey. These do not go as far as the threat

by President Trump to impose sanctions not just on Russia,

but on nations that do business with Russia if there isn't a ceasefire within a few weeks.

So will Europe's sanctions finally work?

The Foreign Minister of Poland is Radek Sokorsky.

Well, I think it's very important to put shadow fleet tankers on the sanctions list,

because these are vessels that are dangerous, particularly to the Baltic Sea,

which is shallow, close sea. These are ancient vessels. If one of them spilled the oil

into the Baltic, we would have a major disaster.

It's also important to lower the price cap on Russian oil below the current market price.

And sanctioning Nord Stream, I think, sends the signal to Putin that we are in it for the long run

that we will limit his income from oil and gas. You say limit the income that Russia gets from

oil and gas is the fact that you are lowering that price cap today an acknowledgement that

it so far hasn't worked?

Well, it has worked because the price has gone down and we need to bring it down further.

...