The West has been applying pressure on Russia to end the war for three years, since Putin’s initial invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The EU and United Kingdom have issued new sanctions against Russia—only one day after a phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin failed to result in a Ukraine ceasefire. Notably, the United States did not join the EU or UK in issuing fresh sanctions.
The New Sanctions Target Russia’s Shadow Fleet
“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,” Reuters reported on Tuesday. “The latest sanctions are aimed mainly at cracking down on a shipping fleet that Russia uses to export oil, circumventing a $60 a barrel price cap imposed by the G7 group of industrialized countries to limit Russia’s income.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy endorsed the new sanctions, writing on Telegram that “sanctions matter, and I am grateful to everyone who makes them more tangible for the perpetrators of the war.”
The Trump administration’s hesitancy to impose new sanctions while diplomacy is ongoing is especially notable, given how intensely the Europeans have lobbied Trump to also issue sanctions. Leaders from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland all traveled to Kyiv recently for meetings with Zelenskyy. During one such meeting, the leaders held a conference call with Trump on speaker phone. And again, on the eve of Trump’s call with Putin, European leaders once again lobbied Trump to impose sanctions should Russia reject the ceasefire proposal.
“Let us push Vladimir Putin to put an end to his imperialist fantasy, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. British foreign minister David Lammy concurred, adding, “Delaying peace efforts will only redouble our resolve to help Ukraine to defend itself and use our sanctions to restrict Putin’s war machine.”
Trump Is Pushing for Direct Russia-Ukraine Diplomacy
But Trump has not budged—saying instead that he is still considering how to proceed. “We’re looking at a lot of things, but we’ll see,” Trump said.
Although he has not issued additional sanctions against Russia, Trump has not ignored the Ukraine issue. Indeed, the forty-seventh president has been directly involved in attempts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine—who “held their first direct talks in more than three years on Friday at Trump’s behest.” So far, the talks have not resulted in a truce, but the face-to-face meeting could represent an important starting point for tangible progress.
During the talks, Ukraine said it wanted an immediate ceasefire along the existing battle lines—effectively freezing the war in place and legitimizing Russia’s gains, albeit without formal Ukrainian recognition. Russia, however, declined this proposal—claiming that it wanted to discuss terms first before agreeing to a ceasefire.
Moscow’s position prompted European leaders to accuse Putin of wishing to continue the war. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that it was “time to intensify the pressure on Russia to bring about the ceasefire.”
Putin said that Moscow was interested in working with Ukraine “on a memorandum about a future peace accord,” Reuters reported, while Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia would never bow to foreign ultimatums.
The West has been applying pressure on Russia to end the war for three years, since Putin’s initial invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The pressures have failed so far—likely because Russia has framed its motivation for beginning the war in the first place with concern over Western influence in Eastern Europe.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the U.S. Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
Image: Shutterstock / miss.cabul.
