EU and U.S. Tighten Sanctions to Pressure Moscow Toward Peace

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and European Council President Antonio Costa arrive for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels on Thursday.

The European Union has joined the United States in unveiling a sweeping new round of sanctions against Russia, intensifying international efforts to force President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

The measures, announced at an EU summit in Brussels, mark the bloc’s 19th sanctions package since the invasion began in 2022. They target Russia’s vital energy sector, major banks, and defense industries, while also restricting the movement of Russian diplomats across Europe. The U.S., for its part, imposed penalties on Russia’s largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, in a bid to choke off the Kremlin’s key revenue streams.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who attended the summit, hailed the coordinated action as “very important,” emphasizing that sustained economic pressure is essential to weakening Moscow’s war machine. European leaders also discussed using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defense and reconstruction, signaling a long-term strategy to support Kyiv.

Despite these moves, the war shows little sign of abating after more than three years of fighting. Western officials hope that the combined weight of sanctions will eventually push Russia to the negotiating table, though Moscow has so far remained defiant.