Ukraine allies hit Russia with new sanctions day after Putin-Trump talks

Kyiv’s European allies slapped new sanctions on Moscow on Tuesday, a day after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce a breakthrough on ending the three-year-old war in Ukraine.

“We have made clear again and again that we simply expect one thing from Russia now: a ceasefire, unconditional and immediate,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, while announcing the sanctions.

Diplomatic efforts have seen little progress in halting the fighting, including Monday’s phone call between Trump and Putin, and Friday’s direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul.

In the phone call, Putin promised Trump that Russia is “ready to work with” Ukraine on a “memorandum” outlining the framework for “a possible future peace treaty”. “It appears that Putin has devised a way to offer Trump an interim, tangible outcome from Washington’s peace efforts without making any real concessions,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, in a post on X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was obvious that Russia was trying to buy time to continue the war and occupation. “We are working with partners to put pressure on the Russians to behave differently,” he said.

The new EU sanctions targeted almost 200 ships from Russia’s “shadow fleet” that was illicitly transporting oil to skirt Western restrictions.