EU chief holds talks with US Republican leading Russia sanctions push

BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen met Monday with Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator leading a push for tough new US sanctions on Russia, to discuss how to jointly increase the pressure on Moscow.

The pair met in Berlin to “discuss EU-US coordination on sanctions in response to Russia´s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine”, said a European Commission statement issued after the meeting.

“Pressure works, as the Kremlin understands nothing else,” it said. “This is why the president welcomed that Senator Graham committed to ramping up pressure on Russia and moving ahead with the bill in (the US) Senate next week,” the statement added.

The Republican senator has put forward a proposal that could see 500-percent tariffs slapped on countries buying oil from Russia -- drawing interest from some in Europe as a potential model for action.

As Russia stalls on peace efforts, the European Union is readying an 18th round of sanctions against Russia -- though diplomats admit it is becoming increasingly difficult to agree on new areas to hit Moscow.

The new EU measures would notably target the defunct Baltic Sea gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2, to pre-empt any attempt to bring them back online. They would also seek to list more shadow fleet vessels, lower the price cap set on Russian oil, and slap additional measures on Russia´s financial sector.

“These steps, taken together with US measures, would sharply increase the joint impact of our sanctions,” von der Leyen said in the statement. “Combined with actions targeting Russia´s shadow fleet limiting Russia´s ability to transport its oil, it´s an effective measure to dry up the Kremlin´s resources to wage the war.” The meeting between Graham and von der Leyen comes as negotiators from Ukraine and Russia are meeting in Turkey for a fresh round of talks.