The European Union is sending a delegation to Washington to ready new joint sanctions against Russia, European Council President António Costa said Friday.
“We are working with the United States and other like-minded partners to increase our pressure through further direct and secondary sanctions,” Costa said at a press conference in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod, following a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Costa added “a European team is traveling to Washington, D.C. to work with our American friends” but did not reveal who would take part in the delegation. His spokesperson directed POLITICO to the European Commission, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU’s 19th package of sanctions against Russia — designed “to bring President Putin to the negotiation table” — would be unveiled in early September.
Ukraine and its allies have long called for the U.S. to follow suit and inflict more punishing sanctions on Moscow in a bid to drain Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest.
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump set a two-week deadline for the Kremlin to end its invasion of Ukraine or else face “massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both” — but he has yet to pull the trigger.
The Republican leader did hit India with steep 50 percent tariffs as punishment for buying Russian oil, but the White House has yet to back the 500 percent secondary tariffs proposed by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on Moscow’s trading partners.
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