A previously unreported Ukrainian white paper to be presented to the EU calls for the 27-member bloc to take a more aggressive and independent position on sanctions as uncertainty hangs over Washington’s future role.
The EU should consider a range of steps to make its sanctions apply more forcefully beyond its own territory, including targeting foreign companies that use its technology to help Russia, and “the introduction of secondary sanctions on purchasers of Russian oil”.
The white paper also calls for the EU to consider using more majority-rules decision making over sanctions, to prevent individual member states from blocking measures that otherwise require unanimity.
After speaking to Putin on Monday, Trump opted not to impose fresh sanctions on Russia, dashing hopes of European leaders and Kyiv who had been lobbying him for weeks to ratchet up pressure on Moscow.
The EU and Britain imposed additional sanctions against Russia on Tuesday anyway, saying they still hope Washington will join them. But Europeans are openly discussing ways they can maintain pressure on Moscow if Washington is no longer prepared to participate.
Publicly, Ukraine has tried to avoid any hint of criticism of Washington since President Volodymyr Zelenskiy received a dressing down from Trump in the White House in February.
“Today, in practice, Washington has ceased participation in nearly all intergovernmental platforms focused on sanctions and export control,“ it said.
It noted that two potentially major U.S. sanctions packages had been drawn up - one by the government and another by pro-Trump senator Lindsey Graham - but that it was “uncertain” whether Trump would sign off on either of them.
“On the contrary, it should catalyse the EU to assume a leading role in this domain.”
Ukraine is worried that Washington peeling away from the Western consensus on sanctions could also cause vacillation in the EU, which traditionally requires consensus for major decisions.
The EU cannot fully replace the heft of the United States in applying economic pressure on Russia. Much of the impact of U.S. sanctions comes from the dominance of the dollar in global trade, which the euro cannot match.
“Europe holds a lot more cards than you’d think,“ he said.
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