EU joins U.S. with more sanctions on Russia to push Putin into talks

The European Union on Thursday heaped more economic sanctions on Russia, adding to President Trump’s new punitive measures the previous day against the Russian oil industry. Russian officials and state media dismissed the Western measures, saying they are largely ineffective.

- By Lorne Cook

The sanctions are intended as part of a broadened effort to choke off the revenue and supplies that fuel Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war.

The measures are a triumph for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has long campaigned for the international community to punish Russia more comprehensively for attacking his country.

“We waited for this. God bless, it will work. And this is very important,” Zelensky said in Brussels, where EU countries attending a summit announced the latest round of Russia sanctions.

Despite U.S.-led peace efforts in recent months, the war shows no sign of ending after nearly four years, and European leaders are in-

Targeted sanctions

Energy revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation and avoiding a currency collapse.

The EU measures especially target Russian oil and gas. They ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas into the bloc, and add port bans on more than 100 new ships in the Russian shadow fleet of hundreds of aging tankers that are dodging sanctions. The latest sanctions bring the total number of such ships to be banned to 557.