EU wants to impose sanctions against people and companies from Israel for buying stolen grain from Ukraine

The European Union is considering imposing sanctions on Israeli individuals and companies that help Russia circumvent international restrictions. The bloc is also demanding an explanation from Israel over the import of Ukrainian wheat that was stolen by Russia.

This was stated by EU Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Anouar El Anouni to the Israeli media outlet Haaretz.

He stressed that the European Union "has taken note of the report that a vessel of the so-called Russian shadow fleet, which was transporting stolen Ukrainian grain, was allowed to unload at the port of Haifa in Israel — despite Ukraineʼs previous contacts with the Israeli authorities on this issue".

"We condemn any actions that help finance Russiaʼs illegal war and circumvent EU sanctions, and are ready to include individuals and entities in third countries on sanctions lists if necessary," he added.

The spokesman also noted that, together with Ukraine, the EU is requesting additional information from the Israeli authorities regarding this situation.

What preceded

On April 26, Haaretz wrote that the PANORMITIS ship with grain allegedly stolen from the occupied territories of Ukraine arrived in the bay of the Israeli city of Haifa and was waiting for permission to enter the port.

Because of this, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha also stressed that the Foreign Ministry had already appealed to Israel on April 15 regarding a similar ship that had delivered grain to Haifa, but there was no sufficient response to the incident. At that time, Israel informed Ukraine that it was too late to detain the Russian ship, as it had already left the port of Haifa.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded to Sybihaʼs post in X, saying that "diplomatic relations are not conducted on Twitter". He also claimed that Sybiha "did not file a request for legal assistance before turning to the media and social media".

• Russia illegally exported about 2 million tons of Ukrainian grain in 2025 and sold it on foreign markets, Minister Sybiha said during the Black Sea Security Conference.

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