European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen met with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to discuss coordination between the EU and the US on sanctions in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
“The president has been clear on the goal: we need a real ceasefire, we need Russia at the negotiating table, and we need to end this war. The pressure is working because the Kremlin does not understand anything else,” the European Commission press service informs.
The meeting took place against the background of the EU’s preparation of the 18th package of sanctions aimed at Russia’s energy revenues, including the Nord Stream infrastructure, the Russian banking sector and the lowering of the upper limit of the oil price.
Von der Leyen said these steps, taken together with the US measures, would dramatically increase the joint impact of the sanctions.
Senator Graham has not yet commented on the meeting, but during a recent visit to Kiev he announced a “summer of coordination”, commenting on the issue of new sanctions against Russia and co-operation with Europe.
“A card game will take place this summer. The first cards will be played in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, where we will impose sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil to keep their war machine running. From there, we’ll go to Paris and we’ll go to Germany. This should be a summer of coordination. I call on our European allies to increase oil production and lower the price cap that will have a deleterious effect on Putin’s war economy. I also call on Europe to get tough on China,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
In April, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill in Congress to impose 500 per cent duties on imports from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and petroleum products.
On 30 May, Blumenthal and Graham said after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev that the US Senate could begin considering the sanctions bill next week. To pass the bill, it must be approved by the US Senate and House of Representatives and then signed by the president.
US President Donald Trump said that he did not yet know whether he would support the imposition of tough new sanctions against Russia in response to the Kremlin’s refusal to settle the war with Ukraine.