EU sets new sanctions on Russia amid Trump’s peace negotiations
The EU has agreed new sanctions on Russia amid US President Trump’s peace negotiations and days before the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
Euronews reported on February 19th that a fresh round of sanctions would be implemented by the European Union, targeting specifically Russian aluminium, an idea proposed but never approved in the past due to European reliance on Russian imports.
Russian unwrought aluminium accounted for 6% of the EU’s aluminium imports, but with a decreasing share over the past three years as a result of businesses shifting supply chains away from Russian suppliers, the ban is expected to further damage the Russian economy with minimal repercussions for Europe.
The ban also extends to tankers belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet”, which the Kremlin has been deploying to circumvent Western restrictions on oil trade. There have been several incidents in the Baltic Sea where the “shadow fleet” has been accused of sabotaging undersea cables, allowing them to obtain oil revenue used to fund the war in Ukraine.
Additionally, Euronews have reported the sanctions expel 13 Russian banks from the SWIFT electronic system and suspend broadcasting licenses of eight Russian media outlets.
However, the impact of sanctions is highly debated. Whilst it’s understood that the war along with sanctions has decimated the Russian economy, President Putin seems no closer to conceding, but rather appears closer to attaining his war aims courtesy of US President Trump.
Maghrebi reported that talks between the United States and Russia began on Tuesday 18th in Saudi Arabia, who have adopted both a host and mediating position, where it’s believed Trump has acknowledged that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO, removing any future security guarantee for the war-torn country, and appears to have made territorial concessions on behalf of Ukraine.
However interesting those in attendance were, those that were not invited provides a more interesting development in the peace negotiations. Ukraine were not present at the talks, rather Keith Kellogg, Trump’s Russia-Ukraine envoy said “dual track” negotiations would take place in Kyiv this week.
Moreover, no other European state, or the EU which constitute half the financial war effort to Ukraine, were not present at negotiations either. Instead, Marco Rubio, Trump’s Secretary of State, has suggested “the European Union is going to have to be at the table at some point” but stressed that concessions will have to be made on all sides, according to Euronews. In other words, the EU can sit at the table with the grown-ups once they’ve already carved up Eastern Europe.
The reaction of the EU appears to be one of trepidation with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying he was prepared to put troops on the ground in Ukraine, before European leaders convened an “informal meeting” in Paris to outline the European action plan.
The sanctions are supposed to come into effect on Monday 24th but the results of the Trump negotiations remain to be seen.
Euronews, Maghrebi
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