As of late, the European Union has taken steps  to apply unilateral restrictive measures against a number of Russian citizens. The Foreign Ministry said the number of names on the Russian list has increased in equal measure  with that of the EU. A note to this effect has been dispatched to the EU office in Russia in accordance with the established procedures.

In March, the EU announced a blacklist of 177 individuals and 44 organizations of Russia to be sanctioned due to their alleged involvement in the crisis in Ukraine. Their assets in the EU were frozen and prohibited to be transferred to EU member countries. The sanctions were first imposed in March, 2014 and later were expanded to September, 2019.