Ukraine war: EU and UK hit Russia with new sanctions without waiting for Trump
The measures come after the US president’s call with Putin did not yield any promise of a ceasefire
The EU and Britain announced new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday without waiting for the United States to join them, a day after US President Donald Trump’s phone call with Vladimir Putin failed to elicit a promise for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
London and Brussels said their new measures would zero in on Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers and financial companies that have helped it avoid the impact of other sanctions imposed over the war.
“Sanctions matter, and I am grateful to everyone who makes them more tangible for the perpetrators of the war,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
The sanctions were unveiled without an immediate announcement of corresponding steps from Washington, despite intense public lobbying from leaders of European countries for the Trump administration to join them.
“We have repeatedly made it clear that we expect one thing from Russia – an immediate ceasefire without preconditions,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on the sidelines of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.
As Russia had not accepted a ceasefire, “we will have to react”, he said. “We also expect our US allies not to tolerate this.”