Ambassadors from the bloc’s 27 members resumed talks on Thursday morning to finalize the measures – the EU’s 21st set of sanctions against Russia – and soon announced that a deal had been reached. An EU diplomat said that technical work on the package would now be concluded and documents prepared for official approval would be launched later in the day. The agreement is expected to keep a limit on oil prices, introduce new sanctions on individuals and target Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, a group of murky tankers used to circumvent existing trade restrictions. Talks over this latest set of sanctions lasted weeks, with many measures facing internal opposition, leading to some proposals being watered down or excluded completely. Plans to prevent EU firms from transporting Russian LNG – liquified natural gas – to third countries were reportedly dropped at a late stage in response to Greece’s opposition. Ambitions to introduce a ban on Russian ex-combatants from entering the EU were also drastically scaled back. What’s in the package? Extending the price cap on Russian oil to 12 months, rather than the previously reported six months, as well tightening regulations on the shadow fleet are considered the key achievements of the package. An EU diplomat told TVP World that, under the agreement, the EU would keep the current $44.10-per-barrel oil price cap in place for 12 months, aiming to limit Russia’s oil revenues amid volatility in global energy markets.