Europeans aim to coordinate first sanctions against Russia with Trump administration

WASHINGTON - The EU’s top sanctions official was in Washington with a team of experts on Sept 8 to discuss what would be the first coordinated transatlantic measures against Russia since President Donald Trump returned to office.

With Moscow continuing to pound Ukrainian cities more than three weeks after Mr Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, European leaders hope the US president is finally ready to follow through on repeated threats to act.

On Sept 7, after the war’s

biggest air attack so far

set fire to government buildings in Kyiv, Mr Trump said he was ready to move to a second phase of restrictions, the closest he has come yet to announcing new sanctions.

Mr Trump, who took office in January promising a swift end to the war, has repeatedly set deadlines for Moscow to agree a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions, only to back off before new measures were imposed.

The EU gave few details about the mission by its sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan to the United States. But should he succeed in coordinating a package with the Americans, it would be the first time that has happened since Mr Trump returned to office. Sanctions were regularly coordinated between Europe and the United States under Mr Trump’s predecessor, Mr Joe Biden.

Mr Antonio Costa, the president of the EU’s council of national leaders, said new sanctions were being closely coordinated with the US.

EU officials are hopeful of better cooperation after several disappointments early in the year as Mr Trump pursued his own peace talks with Mr Putin.

The United States has yet to join the EU, Britain and Canada in seeking to lower a price cap on global sales of Russian crude oil to US$47.60 a barrel, now that global prices have fallen to the point that an earlier price cap no longer has much impact.

Mr Trump has, however, announced steep tariffs on US imports from India, citing its purchases of Russian crude.

On Sept 5, Mr Trump said he would get the war settled “or there’ll be hell to pay”.

On Sept 7, when asked by a reporter at the White House if he was ready to move to “the second phase” of sanctions against Russia, Mr Trump responded: “Yeah, I am.”

He did not elaborate, but oil prices climbed more than US$1 (S$1.28) on Sept 8.

‘Even more hardship’

At least four people, including an infant, were killed on Sept 7 in Russia’s biggest wave of long-range airstrikes of the war, which set a government building ablaze in Kyiv. New strikes on Sept 8 targeted a power station near Kyiv and Ukraine’s electricity grid, causing local blackouts.

“The goal is obvious: to cause even more hardship to the peaceful population of Ukraine, to leave Ukrainian homes, hospitals, kindergartens and schools without light and heat,” Ukraine’s energy ministry wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians but says attacks on Ukraine’s civil infrastructure are legitimate, to reduce Kyiv’s ability to fight. Ukraine also launches long-range attacks on Russian territory, though on a far smaller scale.

Kyiv says restricting Russia’s profit from selling oil on global markets is the only way to curb Moscow’s ability to fund its war effort. The Kremlin said on Sept 8 that

no sanctions would force it to change course

in Ukraine.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022 and now occupies about a fifth of the country. Russia has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians and Europe’s worst fighting since World War Two is estimated to have killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

Moscow says it will not end the war unless Kyiv accepts Russian control of conquered territory, cedes additional land, and is permanently disarmed and barred from forming military alliances. Ukraine says that would be tantamount to surrender and shows Russia has no interest in genuine peace talks.

“No sanctions will be able to force the Russian Federation to change the consistent position that our president has repeatedly spoken about,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The German government’s spokesperson said on Sept 8 that Russia’s “ongoing escalation of the war shows that Putin does not want to negotiate – he wants to continue to create facts”.

“And this can only be stopped by enabling Ukraine to maintain its defence and not allowing Putin to succeed,” the spokesperson added.

Some European officials have questioned whether sanctions can have the intended purpose of forcing Russia to change course, unless they are widened to extend to other countries.

“We don’t buy his gas, but the rest of the world is buying it,” Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview with Il Tirreno newspaper, published on Sept 8. “What’s the point of sanctions if Putin has alternatives?” REUTERS