European Union intensifies economic pressure on Russia

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Whilst United States President Donald Trump coddles Vladimir Putin and pursues and an economic relationship with Russia even as the Russian dictator escalate his brutal war of aggression on democratic Ukraine, the European Union continues to ratchet up economic pressure on the aggressor.

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Drone attacks

“Russia has battered Ukraine overnight with its largest drone attack since the war began, Ukraine’s military said Sunday, as Moscow intensified its military assault despite holding direct peace talks with Kyiv Friday,” CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto reported in a May 18 social media post. “Russia launched 273 Shahed drones in one night, the Ukrainian Air Force said, predominantly targeting the central Kyiv region.” According to UNITED24 Media, a Ukrainian government media organization, one of the fatalities of was a 27-year-old Ukrainian woman named Ania, who “shielded her 4-year-old son Mark with her body.” The boy is alive, but badly wounded.

“Russia’s objective is clear: the continuous massacre of civilians while hiding behind diplomatic theatrics to delay sanctions,” Yulia Svyrydenko, first deputy prime minister and minister of economy of Ukraine, said in a post of the drone onslaught. “Russia continues to murder civilians. The world must respond with strength, not statements.”

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In a recent interview on CNN, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, who resigned her post earlier this spring, did not mince words regarding the current administration’s policy. Trump’s Ukraine strategy, said Brink, “has been to put pressure on Ukraine as the victim, rather than on Russia as the aggressor. And peace at any cost is not peace at all — it’s appeasement.”

‘Coalition of the Willing’

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed key members of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ to Kyiv: French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

“Together in Kyiv at the meeting of the Coalition of the Willing — five of us in person, joined online by leaders from over 30 countries, the EU, and NATO — we discussed what is urgently needed to achieve peace,” the Ukrainian president said in a May 10 post.

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“If Russia refuses a full and unconditional ceasefire, stronger sanctions must be applied to its energy (oil, shadow fleet, fossil fuels) and banking sectors,” Zelenskyy warned. “Preparations are underway for a strong 17th package of EU sanctions.”

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and a former president of Russia, angrily rebuked Zelenskyy’s allies. “Macron, Merz, Starmer, and Tusk were supposed to discuss peace in Kiev. Instead, they are blurting out threats against Russia,” Medvedev wrote in a profane May 10 post. “Either a truce for the respite of Banderite hordes or new sanctions. You think that’s smart, eh? Shove these peace plans up your pangender arses!”

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Instead of agreeing to an unconditional ceasefire, which was originally proposed by Donald Trump earlier this year, Putin responded with an offer of direct talks with Ukraine to be hosted by Türkiye.

Zelenskyy was quick to call Putin’s bluff, immediately agreeing to the talks to be held in Ankara on May 15.

“There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday,” Zelenskyy posted. “Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses.”

Of course, Putin never showed. Instead he sent a low level delegation to Türkiye, demonstrating yet again that Russia is not serious about ending the war — despite Trump’s insistence to the contrary.

Trump-Putin call

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On May 19, Trump spoke to Putin on the telephone. And Trump’s subsequent social media post did not mention any consequences for Putin’s intransigence.

“Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War. The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” Trump said in the post.

Moreover, Trump made it clear that he wants to do business with Putin. “Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic ‘bloodbath’ is over, and I agree,” he declared.

Trump also said that ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would begin immediately. “I have so informed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, President Emmanuel Macron, of France, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, of Italy, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, of Germany, and President Alexander Stubb, of Finland, during a call with me, immediately after the call with President Putin. The Vatican, as represented by the Pope, has stated that it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Let the process begin!”

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Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, was not impressed. “We are not moving in the right direction,” he said in a social media post. “Playing Putin’s game will not bring the peace that Ukraine — and all of us — need. Instead of letting Putin dictate the rules, Europe and the US must step up NOW and apply real political and military pressure on Russia. An aggressor should not be allowed to demand anything!”

European Council

On May 20, the European Union applied additional sanctions on Russia.

According to a statement issued by the European Council, the EU’s 17th package of economic sanctions is designed to cut off “Russia’s access to key military technology and curbing Russia’s energy revenues that fuel its war of aggression against Ukraine, by heavily targeting Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of oil tankers, their operators, as well as a major Russian oil producer.” In addition, the EU sanctions target Russia’s “hybrid activities, domestic violations of human rights and the use of riot control agents by Russian forces in Ukraine, under three other sanctions regimes.”

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The European Council statement noted that the latest sanctions list includes “189 vessels originating from third countries,” which brings the total number of Russian ‘shadow’ vessels targeted by the EU to 342. “In addition, the EU imposes individual sanctions (assets freeze and prohibition to make funds available) targeting the shadow fleet ecosystem, namely on actors enabling the operation of the shadow fleet.” Moreover, the sanctions target “one important insurer of the Russian oil shipping industry.”

“We expect Russia to commit to an unconditional ceasefire,” the German Foreign Office posted on May 20. “As long as Russia does not take this step, the EU will respond. With the 17th sanctions package, we’re tightening the pressure on Putin’s war machine. We should keep all options open for further sanctions.”

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Ukrainian response

In response to the latest EU sanctions, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko declared in a May 20 post: “We are grateful to the EU for adopting its 17th sanctions package against Russia today — targeting nearly 200 shadow fleet vessels, countering hybrid threats, and standing up for human rights.” Svyrydenko described the latest round of EU sanctions as a “strong, necessary step” in response to Russian aggression. “The longer Russia wages war, the tougher and more united our response must be,” she stated.

“EU sanctions package is a blow to russia, but we need something that can stop them from killing us right NOW,” Ukrainian Member of Parliament Kira Rudik posted on May 21. “Our country is bleeding.”

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President, Zelenskyy publicly expressed his appreciation on behalf of Ukraine to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 20. “I thanked President of the European Commission @vonderLeyen and the entire EU for the 17th sanctions package,” Zelenskyy wrote in social media post.

“Just off the phone with @ZelenskyyUa,” Ursula von der Leyen wrote in a May 20th post of her own. “We are coordinating closely on the next steps. Europe has just adopted its 17th package of hard-biting sanctions. An 18th package is being prepared with further hard hitting sanctions. It’s time to intensify the pressure on Russia to bring about the ceasefire.”

Follow Geoffrey P. Johnston on BlueSky @geoffypjohnston.bsky.social

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