New Delhi: The European Union on Friday (July 18) unveiled “one of its strongest” packages of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, with measures that include targeting Rosneft’s refinery operations in India and restricting refined oil imports produced from Russian crude by third countries.Acknowledging the move, India has said it “does not subscribe to any unilateral sanction measures” and that it remains “fully committed” to its legal obligations as a “responsible actor”.The 27-member bloc agreed on an 18th round of sanctions in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the latest sanctions were intended to cut Moscow’s sources of revenue by targeting vessels in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet and bringing down the price cap for Russian crude.“For the first time, we are designating a flag registry and the biggest Rosneft refinery in India,” Kallas said on social media.According to the EU press release, the sanctions include asset freezes, travel bans and prohibitions on providing resources to entities involved in “managing shadow fleet vessels, traders of Russian crude oil and a major customer of the shadow fleet – a refinery in India with Rosneft as its main shareholder”.In 2017, Russian oil giant Rosneft acquired India’s Essar Oil, later renamed Nayara Energy, in a deal valued at USD 12.9 billion. While Rosneft owns 49.13% stake, a similar stake is owned by consortium SPV Kesani Enterprises Co. Ltd, and the remaining by retail investors.Nayara Energy’s refinery in Vadinar, Gujarat, is the second largest in the country and has a refining capacity of 20 million tonnes per year. The company also operates more than 6,000 fuel retail outlets across India.In June, The Economic Times had reported that Reliance Industries had entered preliminary talks with Rosneft for a possible sale of its stake in Nayara Energy. The report said Rosneft was exploring an exit because it had been unable to fully repatriate earnings from its Indian operations due to Western sanctions on Russian companies.Among the measures announced on Friday, the EU also introduced an import ban on refined petroleum products made from Russian crude, even when processed in third countries. The only exceptions are Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The EU stated that the measure was intended to prevent Russian oil from entering the European market indirectly.This move is expected to raise concerns in New Delhi, as Indian refineries have been among the leading processors and exporters of Russian crude to European markets.On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated that India “does not subscribe to any unilateral sanction measures”.“We are a responsible actor and remain fully committed to our legal obligations,” it said in a statement.European think-tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimated that Europe paid 21.9 billion euros for Russian fossil fuel imports in the third year of Russia’s Ukraine invasion. The organisation calculated that Western countries which imposed sanctions on Russia imported 18 billion euros worth of oil products from six refineries in India and Turkey. Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery handled the largest share. Of this amount, nine billion euros worth of products were refined from Russian crude.The new round of EU measures comes a day after India defended its continued purchase of Russian crude in response to remarks by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who warned that India, Brazil and China could face secondary sanctions for doing business with Russia.Reacting to those remarks, the Ministry of External Affairs said India’s energy decisions were guided by market dynamics and global conditions. “Securing energy needs of our people is understandably an overriding priority for us,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. He added that “double standards” should be avoided by critics.The MEA underlined its stance in response to the EU’s latest package of sanctions announced on Friday.Meeting India’s security needs is of “paramount importance”, said the MEA, adding to “stress that there should be no double standards, especially when it comes to energy trade”.Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri also stated on Thursday, July 17, that India was prepared to shift its sourcing strategy if necessary. He noted that India’s supplier base had expanded to nearly 40 countries and that domestic oil production had also increased. He said India would deal with any disruption and could return to its pre-2022 energy mix, when Russian crude made up less than 2% of imports.Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump had threatened “biting” secondary tariffs of 100% on buyers of Russian exports unless a peace deal is reached within 50 days. The US Senate is also considering the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, a bipartisan legislative proposal that would impose a 500% tariff on all imports from countries that continue to purchase Russian energy products, including oil, gas, uranium and petrochemicals.This article was updated with the MEA’s response at 12:04 am on July 19.