German Chancellor Friedrich Merz repeated the threat of sanctions on Tuesday, saying that “if there is no real progress this week, we want to work together at the European level for a significant tightening of sanctions”.
French President Emmanuel Macron also said he was in favour of imposing new sanctions on Russia in the coming days if Moscow failed to agree to a ceasefire, with financial services and oil and gas as possible targets.
16 SANCTIONS PACKAGES IMPOSED ON RUSSIA BY THE EU
Diplomats say, however, that after 16 sanction packages imposed on Russia by the EU over the war in Ukraine, it is increasingly difficult to get the necessary unanimity among the bloc’s 27 members to pass major new measures.
Hungary, which maintains close ties with Russia, has often blocked or sought to water down major new sanctions on Moscow. Diplomats say only pressure from Trump’s administration might make Budapest change tack, but there has been no sign of that so far.
Some officials have resurrected ideas, such as lowering a US$60 price cap on Russian oil, agreed by the Group of Seven nations. That would require Washington’s support, though, and there has been no change in the last two years despite the group’s pledge to periodically review the level.
Fighting has been going on for more than three years in Ukraine, since Russia invaded in February 2022.
Military analysts say that both sides are preparing a spring-summer campaign on the battlefield, where a war of attrition has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides along a roughly 1,000km front line.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Monday that Russia is “quickly replenishing front-line units with new recruits to maintain the battlefield initiative”.
