The Heads of State or Government of the European Union called for preparatory work on further targeted measures to be undertaken so that further steps could be taken without delay.

In view of the gravity of the situation, the Council considers it appropriate to take further restrictive measures in response to Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine.

In addition, the provision of services for deep water oil exploration and production, arctic oil exploration and production or shale oil projects should be prohibited.

In order to put pressure on the Russian Government, it is also appropriate to apply further restrictions on access to the capital market for certain financial institutions, excluding Russia-based institutions with international status established by intergovernmental agreements with Russia as one of the shareholders; restrictions on legal persons, entities or bodies established in Russia in the defence sector, with the exception of those mainly active in the space and nuclear energy industry; and restrictions on legal persons, entities or bodies established in Russia whose main activities relate to the sale or transportation of crude oil or petroleum products. Financial services other than those referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 833/2014, such as deposit services, payment services, insurance services, loans from the institutions referred to in Article 5(1) and (2) of that Regulation and derivatives used for hedging purposes in the energy market are not covered by these restrictions.

These measures fall within the scope of the Treaty and, therefore, in particular with a view to ensuring its uniform application in all Member States, regulatory action at the level of the Union is necessary.

In order to ensure that the measures provided for in this Regulation are effective, it should enter into force immediately,