European Union approves new sanctions on Russia amid talks on Ukraine's future

The European Union is leveraging its position vis-à-vis Russia and the negotiations opened by the Trump administration with a new package of sanctions targeting Moscow. The bloc thus maintains a firm stance against the Kremlin and sends a message to Washington, which did not include the European powers in talks with Russia.

The new package of sanctions on Russia is also a way of reaffirming the European Union's commitment to Kiev, which throughout this week was critical of the Trump administration, considering itself left out from the negotiations held in Riyadh this Tuesday between Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The sanctions package is the 16th that the European Union has issued against Russia. It is still awaiting ratification by the bloc's foreign ministers on Monday, the three-year anniversary of the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

The new set of restrictive measures targets Russia's aluminum sector, and tightens sanctions on the so-called "shadow fleet" of ships used by Russia to circumvent restrictions on its oil exports.

In this regard, it includes 73 cargo vessels. The E.U. also intends to disconnect 13 other Russian banks from the Swift Global Payment System, and will ban the retransmission of eight other Russian media outlets in Europe.

Marco Rubio open to Europe entering negotiations

So far, the United States has led peace efforts in Ukraine, under some criticism from Kiev and its European allies for leaving them on the sidelines of the talks.

Despite this, after the meeting with Lavrov in Riyadh, Marco Rubio assured that the only sustainable and durable peace in Ukraine will be one that is acceptable to all parties involved in the conflict. "The European Union is going to have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed," Rubio told reporters.

Rubio is aware that if the European Union does not participate in lowering tensions with Russia, there will be no lasting peace. The secretary of state repeated on several occasions that peace with Russia must also be the opportunity to unblock the country economically, which involves putting an end to the numerous sanctions.

Speaking to the Financial Times, an anonymous European official asserted that "There’s deep concern about how we [the E.U.] can keep up economic pressure on Russia if the U.S. delinks its sanctions from ours." Most of the Western sanctions imposed on Russia since 2022 have been coordinated by the G7 to ensure maximum impact.