The EU is expected to propose a new round of sanctions against Russia as soon as this week, targeting the areas of encryption, banking, and energy.

Insiders revealed that after a phone call between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump, the EU plans to announce the latest package of sanctions against Russia to member countries as early as Friday. Following the end of the call on Tuesday, von der Leyen stated that this would be the 19th package of measures that the EU has introduced since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, targeting cryptocurrency, banking, and energy sectors. The US is pressuring its G7 allies to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries like India that purchase Russian oil, in order to compel Russia to negotiate with Ukraine. However, this request may face resistance from the governments of member countries. Insiders revealed that Trump reiterated his preference for tariffs over sanctions in the call. G7 officials are currently working on a package proposal, with plans to finalize it within the next two weeks. Other measures will target major Russian oil companies as well as networks and service facilities transporting Russian oil. Trump has repeatedly stated that the EU should stop buying Russian oil. Nearly all EU member states have already stopped importing Russian oil through pipelines and shipping, but Hungary and Slovakia are unwilling to do so, while some countries continue to purchase liquefied natural gas from Russia. Most EU countries have also pledged to gradually stop importing all Russian fossil fuels by the end of 2027, and von der Leyen expressed a desire to shorten this deadline further. Progress has been made between the US and the EU in using frozen Russian central bank assets worth around $300 billion to support Ukraine, with proposals on how to implement this expected soon. Media reports on Wednesday stated that Germany supports further utilizing these assets. The G7 had previously indicated that these funds would remain frozen until a peace agreement is reached and Russia compensates for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.