EU sanctions on observation targeting rivers and the northern banking sector to put pressure on Putin – Politico

The head of the EU executive also said that the Commission would seek to reduce the oil price ceiling, a limit of the sale price of Russian crude oil which is decided at level G7.

The targeting of the energy and banks of Russia would have a “real impact” on the Kremlin, but it would be delicate because of the Hungarian opposition, an EU diplomat told Politico earlier this week, who obtained anonymity to discuss preparations.

Questioned by Politico if the United States was aboard the new sanctions raft, Von Der Leyen said that it was “in close contact with the Senator (Lindsey) Graham”, the American republican senator who is a vocal critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Graham proposed a set of 500% punitive rates on Russia.

“We are very aligned on the fields where sanctions must be,” said Von Der Leyen.

While Graham is an ally of Donald Trump, the American president did not publicly indicate that he was ready to adopt such punitive sanctions against Russia. Trump told journalists on Thursday that there would be no progress towards peace in Ukraine until he meets Putin, because the talks in Moscow-Kyiv, very publicized in Turkey, transformed a huge Nothing.

The delegations of the two countries are expected to sit in Turkey on Friday for the first direct talks recently after the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022, but Putin’s decision to skip the talks and send delegations of lower level has been read as a reluctance to engage in peace discussions.