BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission will delay presenting its next Russia sanctions package, EU 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 European Union 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 January 1, 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.”
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Julia Payne; writing by Richard LoughEditing by David Goodman and Gareth Jones)
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