European Union and the United Kingdom announced new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday (20), a day after US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin without a promise of ceasefire in Ukraine.
London and Brussels have said the new measures will focus on the “ghost fleet” of oil tankers and financial companies that help Moscow avoid the impact of other sanctions imposed because of the war.
The sanctions were announced without the corresponding actions of Washington, despite the intense public lobby of European countries for the Trump government to join them.
The leaders of UK, France, Germany and Poland traveled to Kiev together earlier this month and said they had new sanctions against Russia ready to be applied. The Europeans talked to Trump on the eve of his connection with Putin to ask him to join them in the imposition of stricter measures.
Russia and Ukraine held their first direct conversations in more than three years on Friday (16), but failed to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Kiev says he is ready for an immediate truce proposed by Trump, while Russia claims to want negotiations first. According to Europeans, this is proof that Putin, which began the war by invading Ukraine in 2022, is not prepared to end the conflict.
“Putin is clearly gaining time, unfortunately we have to say that Putin is not really interested in peace,” said Germany Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
Putin pressure
After the announcement on Tuesday (2), the European Union and the United Kingdom suggested that other sanctions could still be applied, making it clear that they did not lose hope of persuading Washington to act.
France Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, has called for “sanctions that are really deterrent.”
“Let’s press Vladimir Putin to end his imperialist fantasy,” he said.
United Kingdom Foreign Minister David Lammy said that “delaying peace efforts will only redouble our determination to help Ukraine defend and use our sanctions to restrict Putin’s war machine.”
European Union’s head of foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, said more sanctions were “underway.”
“The more time Russia waging the war, the harsher our answer will be,” she wrote on social network X.
The latest sanctions have as its main objective to repress a fleet of ships that Russia uses to export oil, bypassing a price limit of $ 60 per barrel imposed by the G7 to limit Russia’s income.
United Kingdom and the European Union said they will also work to reduce the limit, but Kallas made it clear that the United States must act.
“We all agreed and said … if they do not agree with unconditional ceasefire, as Ukraine agreed more than 60 days ago, there will be a strong action,” said Kallas. “And that’s what we want to see from all the parts who said they will act.”
Trump said on Monday (19) that Russia and Ukraine were ready to start negotiations. Putin said the process would take time.
This content was originally published in a European Union and the United Kingdom announce new sanctions against Russia on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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