September 7, 2025

Get ready for a big meeting of minds! A top team from Europe, led by EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan, will meet officials at the US Treasury on Monday. The goal? To cook up new economic pressures and tougher sanctions on Russia. Someone close to this secretive meeting, who wanted to stay unnamed, told The Associated Press about the plans. They also shared that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent already chatted with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last Friday. This was a follow-up after Vice President J D Vance spoke with her the day before. Why the rush? Because the Russian war in Ukraine, sparked by Moscow's invasion, has been dragging on for 3 and a half years. President Donald Trump is getting visibly frustrated. He has tried, but failed, to get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sit face-to-face and end the war. Trump even had a summit with Putin last month in Alaska, but no luck there. On top of that, a deadline Trump set in August for Russia to stop its attack has sadly flopped. On Monday, expect some heavy hitters from the White House, State Department, and US Trade Representative offices to join the talks. The European squad includes people who know all about energy, sanctions, financial services, and trade. Since that chilly Alaska summit, Russia didn’t hold back. Last month, it launched a rare drone and missile strike on western Ukraine, hitting an American-owned electronics factory. This made Trump even more angry at Putin. Yet, he has not slapped Russia with new sanctions—at least not yet. In a chat with reporters in the Oval Office while hosting Polish President Karol Nawrocki, Trump said something spicy: "Whatever Putin decides to do 'we'll either be happy about it or unhappy. And if we're unhappy about it, you'll see things happen.'" He also threw a bold challenge to European leaders on Thursday. Trump called on them to stop buying Russian oil that’s fueling the war. According to the White House, the EU sent a whopping 1.1 billion euro worth of fuel to Russia in just one year. Not stopping there, Trump stressed Europe must crank up economic pressure on China, too, because China is indirectly helping Russia pay for its war efforts. On their side, European leaders keep meeting on their own. They have pledged to set up a possible peacekeeping force for Ukraine. But Moscow hates this idea and keeps shouting it's "unacceptable." Adding fuel to the fire, Putin warned on Friday that if foreign troops enter Ukraine during the war, Moscow will treat them as "legitimate targets." The drama is far from over, but one thing’s clear: the fight for peace is heating up with new moves all around.

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Tags: Eu sanctions, Us treasury, Russia-ukraine war, Trump putin talks, European commission, Economic pressure,