Brussels – EU sanctions against Russia continue. The EU does not believe Vladimir Putin, accusing him of not being interested in sitting at a table with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate a truce in Ukraine. So, the day after Donald Trump called the Russian leader, the 27 EU member states approved the umpteenth clampdown against Moscow (the 17th since the beginning of the war) and are already working on the next package.
On the agenda of today’s (May 20) Foreign Affairs Council meeting, there were sanctions against Russia. EU ministers formally adopted the 17th package since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, which ambassadors approved last week. Nothing particularly striking in terms of contents. It essentially extends existing restrictive measures, especially for the so-called “shadow fleet,” which the Kremlin uses to circumvent the crude oil embargo.
Brussels’ mantra remains the same: sanctions aim to pressure Moscow and push Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. “I think it’s important, as all 27 of us agreed, that there must be a complete and unconditional ceasefire,” Kaja Kallas repeated yet again to reporters upon arriving at the Europa building. “Ukraine accepted this over 60 days ago, and we agreed that if Russia does not accept it—as we saw yesterday—then we will increase the pressure,” the High Representative added.
The reference is to yesterday’s long phone call (over two hours) between Donald Trump and the Kremlin’s occupant, though the two provided somewhat different accounts of the conversation. The US President said he was very satisfied with the call and triumphantly announced on his social platform, Truth, that the two warring parties “will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an end to the war.”
On the other hand, Putin only stated that Moscow is ready to work with Kyiv on a “memorandum for a possible future peace agreement.” The Russian president claimed that such a document could include elements such as “the principles of a solution, the timeline for a possible peace agreement, and so on, including a potential ceasefire for a certain period of time if adequate agreements are reached,” but did not provide further details.
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According to Europeans, Putin’s move is a bluff. Therefore, “We will continue to work on the next strong sanctions package,” the head of EU diplomacy assured. “We’re talking about a cap on oil prices, the energy and banking sectors,” she explains. She also urges Trump to do the same: “From the United States, we heard that without a ceasefire, there would be strong reactions, consequences, and now we want to see these consequences,” concluded the former Estonian Prime Minister, lamenting the lack of “serious pressure” from the US administration on the Kremlin.
The 27 member states seem to share the same stance. According to the German Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, Putin “does not yet seem truly interested in peace or a ceasefire, at least not under conditions that would be acceptable” to Kyiv and its allies. According to the Social Democratic minister, the Russian president is “biding time” and has not yet abandoned the maximalist demands he has been repeating for over three years.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who participated in this morning’s Defense Council, seemed more satisfied with Washington’s mediation. “I’m really glad that Donald Trump has taken on a leadership role,” he commented, adding that “the US administration is very involved and is engaging in dialogue with EU counterparts.” According to NATO’s top official, no immediate results should be expected because “this is a very complex conflict,” but “it’s important that Trump has opened direct communication channels with Putin.”
The call between the White House and the Kremlin (the third since the tycoon returned to the Oval Office) came after the substantial failure of the talks in Istanbul, where the Ukrainian leader provocatively invited his Russian counterpart — who never showed up — to meet in person to start high-level negotiations for a ceasefire and lay the groundwork for future peace talks. However, the only thing that the Moscow and Kyiv delegations agreed upon was a prisoner exchange and a commitment to organize, in the future, a face-to-face meeting between the respective presidents.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
