European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen (Front) and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky arrive for a plenary session of the European Political Community (EPC) summit, in Tirana on May 16, 2025.
Photo: Ludovic Marin / AFP
The U.S. president warned that Brussels’ approach could make the situation in Ukraine “much worse.”
The European Union formally adopted its 17th sanctions package against Russia on Tuesday, May 20th, and warned that more sanctions are already “in the works.” Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, stressed on social media that “the longer Russia wages war, the tougher our response.”
The EU has approved its 17th sanctions package against Russia, targeting nearly 200 shadow fleet ships.
New measures also address hybrid threats and human rights.
More sanctions on Russia are in the works.
The longer Russia wages war, the tougher our response.
The measures were adopted shortly after Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin, which was itself succeeded by a follow-up call with Trump and key European leaders, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump’s call with Putin did not result in an immediate breakthrough, but the U.S. president stressed that he would still not join European leaders in imposing fresh sanctions right away “because I think there’s a chance of getting something done,
And if you do that [impose sanctions now], you can also make it much worse.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said on Tuesday that “if you start threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking. And there’s value in us being able to talk to them and drive them to get to the table.”
This is likely to be more the case for sanctions imposed by Washington than by Brussels, which appear to have no reflection on what is actually happening in the peace talks.
The EU’s latest package targets Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of oil tankers, which Moscow has been using to evade previous energy sanctions. It also imposes asset freezes and visa bans on dozens more Russian officials.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot suggested that the situation would be helped “if the United States slammed its fist on the table” by imposing sanctions of its own, but Trump is so far resisting pressure to do so.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
