The EU is looking to ban Russian aluminium as part of a new round of sanctions on Moscow to coincide with the third anniversary of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, diplomats said Wednesday.

The 27-nation bloc has already hit Russia with 15 packages of unprecedented sanctions since it launched the all-out assault on February 24, 2022.

Russia is one of the world’s largest aluminium producers after China.

Diplomats from the EU’s member states held a preliminary discussion on the measures Wednesday and all need to sign off for the sanctions to be approved.

Despite calls from some countries to impose more restrictions on imports of liquefied natural gas, the sector was not targeted in a proposal by the European Commission.

Instead, the most painful blow for Moscow appeared to be a phased ban on Russia’s lucrative exports of aluminium, diplomats said.

The EU has already banned imports of some aluminium products and lowered the total amount it brings in from Russia.

Other eye-catching items to be targeted include banning the export from Europe to Russia of computer games consoles.

European officials say that Russian forces use the computer hardware to help them direct drone attacks on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The EU is also looking to hit Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of ageing tankers used to circumvent restrictions on oil exports.

A number of vessels have been linked to incidents in the Baltic Sea that saw vital undersea cables running between EU nations cut.

Diplomats said that the latest sanctions proposal included blacklisting a further 73 of the vessels.