The European Commission will delay presenting its next Russia sanctions package, European Union officials said on Tuesday, as the bloc searches for a response to the Trump administration's demand that it phase out purchases of Russian oil and gas faster.
The Commission had been expected to present a 19th package of sanctions to envoys of the 27 EU member states on Wednesday that diplomats said was likely to include Russian banks, Moscow's sanctions-evading "shadow fleet" and listings to stop circumvention in third countries.
No new date has been set for discussions of the package, the official said. The delay was first reported by Politico.
Trump presses EU to end imports of Russian energy
In recent days, U.S. President Donald Trump has cranked up pressure on the EU to cut off energy revenue to Moscow in his efforts to end the war in Ukraine. As Russia's most lucrative source of revenue, its fuel exports have helped to fund the war.
Washington is demanding that the EU impose steep trade tariffs on India and China, the biggest purchasers of Russian oil, and quit importing Russian energy itself.
Europe already plans to end purchases of Russian oil and gas by 1 January, 2028 - a goal it says is ambitious and would ensure that EU countries do not face energy price spikes or supply shortages in the meantime.
But Washington wants the bloc to move faster.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday the Trump administration would not impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods to halt China's purchases of Russian oil unless European countries hit China and India with punitive duties of their own.
European officials have said the bloc was very unlikely to impose crippling tariffs on India or China, treating tariffs differently to sanctions.
"It's a challenging proposition (from Trump)," one EU diplomat told Reuters.
"Even if his requests are deliberately excessive, it still forces us to come to terms with them in some kind of way in order to avoid him shifting the blame onto the EU."
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Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
A TV channel was struck during a live broadcast on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least three people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Meanwhile, drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia's southwestern Saratov region.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly launched two ballistic missile attacks against a U.S. Navy warship over the past two days.
U.S. special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday on efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
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Israel has ordered the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem and banned 12 British nationals from entering the country, escalating a diplomatic row with London over Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
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