BRUSSELS — European leaders are preparing to demand tougher sanctions on Russia at a summit on Thursday, putting them at odds with Donald Trump just days after the U.S. president struck a deal with Vladimir Putin to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports. The leaders plan to call for further sanctions and measures targeting Moscow's oil revenues at the European Council, according to a recent draft joint statement obtained by POLITICO, as EU governments reject Trump's claim to have secured an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. The disagreement exposes a widening divide over how to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
While Trump is seeking to bring down U.S. fuel prices by allowing more Russian diesel onto global markets, European leaders argue that restricting the Kremlin's energy revenues remains essential to forcing Putin to end the war. "Russia is not interested in deescalation, ceasing fire or peace," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a security conference in Warsaw on Monday. "That is why I will go to Brussels to ask my partners to consider seriously increasing sanctions against Russia." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also called for further restrictions, pointing to Moscow's continued attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure despite Trump's announcement of a ceasefire.
"Russia will only negotiate in good faith under pressure," Merz said Monday. "Following Moscow's reckless attacks on Ukraine's civilian energy supply, we must even tighten [sanctions] further." The push comes after EU foreign ministers on Monday approved the bloc's largest-ever addition to its Russia sanctions list, targeting more than 1,600 individuals and entities. The European Commission is also preparing a 23rd package of sectoral sanctions, which Kyiv expects to be circulated to EU governments by the end of the year, according to a senior Ukrainian official who was, like others in this article, granted anonymity to speak frankly on the sensitive negotiations.
Other European countries are taking a similar position. Britain and Norway have also pledged to increase pressure on Moscow. "It's important to sanction Russia not to finance the war," Norwegian Defense Minister Tore O.
Sandvik told POLITICO, calling for loopholes in existing restrictions to be closed. Behind closed doors, many European diplomats see Trump's abrupt shift toward easing restrictions on Russian energy as driven primarily by domestic political concerns ahead of next month's U.S. midterm elections. That is the "broadly held view" among EU officials, according to one senior official.
The president is under mounting pressure over fuel prices, which have surged since the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Having promised during his 2024 campaign to bring gasoline prices below $2 a gallon, Trump now faces an electorate paying more than twice that amount, with Republicans at risk of losing control of Congress. His agreement with Putin is intended to release an additional 4.8 million tons of Russian diesel onto global markets over the coming months, easing pressure on fuel supplies and prices.
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