The European Union and the United Kingdom do not trust Vladimir Putin’s commitments on the ceasefire and the peace negotiations, nor of the reassurances of Donald Trump in the role of mediator for an agreement between Moscow and Kiev. Both Brussels and London have approved a new package of penalties against Russia, to continue pressure on the country to put an end to the invasion.
The one approved by the EU is its 17th package of restrictive measures, which targeted new “ghost” oil tankers used to circumvent the existing sanctions against Russian oil exports. “Other penalties against Russia are in the preparation phase. The more war, the longer our response will be,” the high representative Kaya Kallas wrote on X, in announcing the formal green light of the twenty -seven gathered in the foreign affairs council.
New penalties against Moscow: hit the ships that sabotage the submarine cables and judges of Navalny
London also imposes penalties
The 100 new British sanctions also target 18 ships of the “ghost fleet” used by Russia, then concern a series of financial institutions, individuals accused of “spreading the Russian disinformation” and “Russian’s supply of lethal weapon systems, in particular Iskander missiles”, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Putin’s latest attacks show once again his belligerent face,” commented the Secretary of State to British Foreign Affairs David Lammy. “We urge him to immediately accept a complete and unconditional fire, so that he can start the talks for a just and lasting peace,” he added.
Skepticism on Trump Mediator
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of wanting to “earn time” by blocking the talks for the ceased the fire in order to “continue” his invasion of Ukraine, after a phone call between Putin and Trump has produced no tangible results.
Yesterday (Monday 19 May) the two leaders discussed for two hours, three days after the first Russian-Ukrainian peace talks since 2022. But the conversation did not lead to the announcement of a ceased the fire, despite Trump boasted that thanks to his intervention the two belligerents would have “immediately started the negotiations in sight” of a truce.
But at the moment no calendar has been announced and there is no guarantee that Moscow and Kiev reach an agreement, while the Russian army continues to go to the eastern Ukraine in the face of Kiev’s troops in difficulty. “It is clear that Russia is trying to earn time to continue its war and its employment,” said Zelensky, describing Moscow’s conditions as “unrealistic”.
Last Friday, the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, gathered in Istanbul with the Turkish mediation, had indicated that each part would have “presented” their “vision” of a possible respite, according to the words of the Russian negotiator, Vladimir Medinski. But there are two diametrically opposite approaches: Kiev asks for a 30 -day “unconditional” fire to allow the performance of the peace interviews, while Moscow believes that the negotiations must take place “simultaneously” to the fighting.
Western pressure on Russian oil
And in this situation the West tries to increase its pressure on Moscow with sanctions, although so far they have not dissuaded Putin to carry on his plans. Attention is focused mainly on the Russian shadow fleet and on the operators who try to circumvent the price limit of Russian crude oil imposed by the G7 and in force since the end of 2022.
Thus Putin’s “ghost fleet” wanders oil penalties
The roof had been designed to allow the sale of Russian oil to third countries using western insurance services, provided that the price did not exceed 60 dollars per barrel, in order to limit the revenue to Moscow.
The move began to have negative but not significant effects and the EU seems willing to push for a lower price roof this week during a meeting of the G7 finance ministers in Canada. Oil and gas exports are one of the main sources of income from Russia, and finance the war in Ukraine.
