The European Union is moving to strangle Russia’s energy cash flow by imposing “shadow fleet” and LNG sanctions

“Today is a good day for Europe and Ukraine,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement, as EU leaders met for a summit in Brussels.

He said the new sanctions “will introduce new and comprehensive measures on Russia’s oil and gas, shadow fleet and financial sector.” A new system will also be introduced to limit the movement of Russian diplomats within the European Union, which includes 27 countries.

This move comes a day after US President Donald Trump administration Russia announced new sanctions on the Russian oil industry aimed at pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and ending Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Energy revenues are The hub of the Russian economyThis allows Putin to pump money into the armed forces without exacerbating inflation for ordinary people and avoid a crisis Currency collapse.

It took almost a month to decide on the new measures taken by the European Union. The 27-nation bloc has already dealt a blow 18 pack of sanctions against Russia over the war, but reaching a final agreement on who and what will be targeted could take weeks.

The sanctions deal was reached at a Thursday morning meeting of EU ambassadors, just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined his European counterparts at the one-day summit, where they are pressing for a near-total ceasefire. Four years of fighting.

The summit comes after Trump said that Plan a quick meeting With Putin it was suspended because he did not want to be a “waste of time”. It marked another development in Trump’s fitful efforts to end the war.

The leaders are also looking forward to any progress on Gaza under Trump Peace planIt will discuss ways to keep the 27-nation bloc involved in the proceedings.

The European Union is the world’s largest provider of aid to the Palestinians, but it has little influence over Israel — partly because European countries are divided over how to handle the conflict — and has struggled to play a role with consequences.

Its role in the war in Ukraine is becoming clearer, and the summit is being held at a time when Russian armed forces are striking the territory of the conflict-torn country. Energy grid Just as the weather starts to turn cold.

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s most powerful European backers who are part of a “coalition of the willing” said they oppose any effort to have Ukraine surrender territory seized by Russian forces in exchange for peace, as Trump recently suggested.

The United Kingdom will host a meeting of members of this coalition, which includes more than 30 countries, on Friday.

On the EU side, leaders intend to move forward Plan to use Billions of dollars in Russian assets have been frozen to help fund war efforts in Ukraine, despite some doubts about the consequences of such a move.

The largest tranche of frozen assets – some US$225 billion – is held in Belgium, and the Belgian government has been reluctant to take any risks about using the funds without firm guarantees from its European partners.

Ukraine’s total budget and military needs for the years 2026 and 2027 are estimated at approximately $153 billion.

European Union leaders are also likely to sign a new agreement “road map” To prepare Europe to defend itself against a Russian attack by the end of the decade. Senior officials believe that Russia could be ready to target another European country within 3 to 5 years.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine on https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine