Ukraine ceasefire on brink as EU refuses to lift Russia sanctions

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/26/ukraine-ceasefire-brink-eu-refuses-lift-russia-sanctions/

by TheTelegraph

32 comments

  1. ***The Telegraph reports:***

    Russia must fully withdraw from Ukraine before European Union sanctions on Moscow can be lifted, Brussels warned on Wednesday in a blow to Donald Trump’s hopes of striking a quick ceasefire deal.

    The US president agreed to Russian demands that international sanctions be lifted in return for the partial truce in the Black Sea after marathon talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

    The White House has also made clear that Ukraine will have to cede territory to Russia as part of a final peace deal, which the European Commission has now rejected.

    Mr Trump, who has sidelined European leaders from his negotiations with Vladimir Putin, will need the EU, Britain and other Western allies to agree to remove their measures.

    However, a European Commission spokesman said on Wednesday: “The end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions.”

    Kyiv wants the return of Russian-occupied lands but is under significant pressure from Washington to drop those demands, and its ambitions of joining Nato.

    European officials and politicians have insisted that Europe and Ukraine must be part of the negotiations for a final peace deal, and could now try to use its sanctions as leverage to get a seat at the negotiating table.

    “For an administration that seems to consider Europe useless and pathetic, they sure need a lot of our help to make a half-baked ‘peace deal’ with the Russians work,” one EU diplomat told the Telegraph

    Brussels has taken a firmer line than Sir Keir Starmer. On Tuesday night, Downing Street said it was “obviously hopeful of the progress” but refused to say if the UK planned to ease any of the sanctions it has imposed on Russia.

    EU countries have hit Moscow with an unprecedented number of sanctions since Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, adopting the 16th package of measures earlier this month.

    The measures cover, among many things, agriculture, aircraft landing rights, broadcasting licences, energy, fertiliser, access to EU ports for Russian-flagged shipping and even video game controllers and joysticks, which can be used to control drones.

    EU countries renewed the bloc’s two sanctions frameworks on Russia for another six months at the end of January and earlier this month. Any changes to sanctions require unanimity among its 27 member states.

    **Full story:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/26/ukraine-ceasefire-brink-eu-refuses-lift-russia-sanctions/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/03/26/ukraine-ceasefire-brink-eu-refuses-lift-russia-sanctions/)

  2. what a shit headline.

    I mean ffs – russia still has its maximalist demands. it just wants more and more and more. and it deserves NOTHING.

    a ceasefire is not ‘on the brink’ because russia demands it all. and lifting sanctions just for a ceasefire of 30 days? it is preposterous. there is no ‘brink’. there is just a barbaric criminal invading russia that still believes it can get it all – and this belief and feverish fanatcism has no doubt only been fuelled since trump took office.

    the EU is not the block. russia is. it has zero intent of ending this war until it gets everything. and then it will just prepare for or go straight into its next war.

  3. EU from its own perspective has interest in Russian aggressor’s complete withdrawal from occupied Ukrainian lands. US administration does not care. They will get into their choppers and F off back to N.America. Whilst Ukraine and by extension EU will have to deal with the Russian f@@ks. Bad deal is a bad deal.

  4. As a European I’d rather wage war with Trump than give a single square meter of any sovereign nation to Putin. These assholes need to be put in their place…6ft under

  5. Why is that, according to Russia the sanctions don’t work at all.

  7. Lifting all sanctions for a temporaty and locally limited ceasefire is just the dumbest idea anyone in history has ever had. Besides maybe that flatearther that tried to shoot himself into space to proof earth is flat and died trying….

    Give everything he wants in exchange for nothing? The selfproclaimed best dealmaker in the world is pulling the worst Deals ever.

  8. Trump fails to recognize that he holds none of the cards at all.

  9. What ceasefire? There has been zero meaningful agreement. Russia is happy to discuss a ceasefire only if Ukraine has been betrayed by all its allies, by which time Ukraine will have ceased to exist.

  10. Ah this tabloid telegraph doing its master’s bidding again…

  11. Expecting Trump to sanction the EU and lift sanctions on Russia because something to do with it being *Europe* that “wants” war instead of peace. Black is white, white is black.

  12. “The US Demanded Ceasefire on Brink as EU Logically Denies Lifting Sanctions against Terrorist Russia”

    There, fixed the headlines to be accurate.

  13. Europe needs to be increasing Russia’s sanctions to cover the cost of all the peacekeeping – no reason for Europeans to be paying for Russian aggression.

  14. More on this subject from other reputable sources:

    —
    – France 24 (A-): [Ukraine, US teams meet in Saudi Arabia ahead of truce talks with Russia](https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250323-ukraine-russia-to-hold-talks-with-us-officials-in-saudi-arabia)
    – Newsweek (B-): [Trump Unveils Black Sea Deal With Russia, Ukraine](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-unveils-black-sea-deal-russia-ukraine-2049953)
    – BBC Online (A-): [Russia says sanctions must be lifted before Ukraine maritime ceasefire can start](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93n05z48ldo)
    – CNBC (B): [EU says ‘unconditional withdrawal’ of Russia from Ukraine is a precondition to amend sanctions](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/26/eu-says-russia-withdrawal-from-ukraine-is-condition-to-lift-sanctions.html)

    —
    [__Extended Summary__](https://www.reddit.com/r/newswall/comments/1jim6sz/) | [FAQ & Grades](https://www.reddit.com/r/newswall/comments/uxgfm5/faq_newswall_bot/) | I’m a bot

  16. EU has to treat the US as an adversary now and forge its own path for defence and peace.

  17. Does Trump have any leverage he could use to bully Europe into withdrawing sanctions on Russia? What if he threatened 100% tariffs, the withdrawal of US troops from all of Europe, or maybe a naval blockade of European ports. There may be coercive tools at Trump’s disposal that he could use to get compliance.

  18. The EU has a right and duty to defend itself and to sanction Russia in it’s own defence/deterrence activities independent of the U.S.

    While Ukraine is of course enduring the effects of Russia’s aggression most of all, Russia is also currently engaged in sabotage and destabilizing operations against the EU directly.

  20. But.. sanctions are good for russia, right? Their economy only got stronger under sanctions, according to russia.

    But no, I think the “KingOfDeals_69” could learn a lesson or two about dealmaking from the Europeans.

    You don’t reward the russians before they actually delivers tangible proof that they are serious about negotiating, like withdrawing troops and stop bombing at the very least. To let them off the hook now is the same as giving them lots of fresh cash to scale up their production further, and replenish their losses a lot faster.

  21. There’s no ceasefire anyway. What is this article talking about? There’s a dangling promise of one Putin hasn’t even really bargained on. That’s not a ceasefire.

  22. > The US president agreed to Russian demands that international sanctions be lifted in return for the partial truce in the Black Sea

    Gee what a surprise. The grifter-in-chief promising sonething that he can’t deliver.

  25. You have to love it when the International community tells donald to stick it 🙂

  26. I see it as a calculated way of giving trump a way out. Europe doesn’t want peace. Now they have ownership. Trump can Portray he was magnanimous and tried for peace. He can wash his hands of the matter and move on to his true agenda. I would need LSD To conjure up what that could possibly be. I’ll take a wild guess trade deal with china and russia

  27. Russia can easily get the sanctions lifted. All that is needed is their full retreat and unconditional surrender.

  28. DONT LIFT THE SANCTIONS

    THANK YOU EU

    FUCK TRUMP FUCK ELON FUCK VANCE

  29. I say, Théoden King: shall we have peace and friendship, you and I? It is ours to command.”

    “We will have peace,” said Théoden at last thickly and with an effort. Several of the Riders cried out gladly. Théoden held up his hand. “Yes, we will have peace,” he said now in a clear voice, “we will have peace, when you and all your works have perished–and the works of your dark master to whom you would deliver us. You are a liar, Saruman, and a corrupter of men’s hearts. You hold out your hand to me, and I perceive only a finger of the claw of Mordor. Cruel and cold! Even if your war on me was just–as it was not, for were you ten times as wise you would have no right to rule me and mine for your own profit as you desired–even so, what will you say of your torches in Westfold and the children that lie dead there? And they hewed Háma’s body before the gates of the Hornburg, after he was dead.

    When you hang from a gibbet at your window for the sport of your own crows, I will have peace with you and Orthanic. So much for the house of Eorl. A lesser son of great sires am I, but I do not need to lick your fingers. Turn elsewhither. But I fear your voice has lost its charm.

  30. As the Europeans were not at the negotiation table why would they stop sanctions?

  31. So what dose EU gets from this “deal” ? Other than tarrifs and threats ?

  32. You cannot negotiate a ceasefire with only one side on the table.

    Everybody knows this.

    I suggest journalists try to align.

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