EU lags behind US in push for coordinated Russia sanctions ahead of G7 summit

The European Union is unlikely to finalise its next package of sanctions against Russia in time for the upcoming G7 summit, despite mounting pressure from the United States for coordinated action.

Four EU diplomats told EUobserver on June 2 that Washington’s hopes of synchronising new sanctions with Europe by the G7 meeting on June 16 in Alberta, Canada, are unrealistic. While the US Senate aims to pass a new bill targeting Russian oil and uranium exports next week, the EU Commission is still in the early stages of drafting its 18th sanctions package.

US Senators Lindsey Graham (Republican) and Richard Blumenthal (Democrat), who are spearheading the sanctions push, visited Paris and Berlin over the weekend to encourage European partners. After meeting French President Emmanuel Macron, they stated, “We all agreed that if China and India stopped buying cheap Russian oil, [President Vladimir] Putin’s war machine would grind to a halt.”

Graham also met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Berlin on Monday. In her statement, she said the upcoming EU sanctions would target “Russia’s energy revenues, including Nord Stream infrastructure, Russia’s banking sector, and lowering the crude oil price cap.” She emphasised that coordinated US-EU action would “sharply increase the joint impact of our sanctions.”

Nord Stream, the Russia-Germany gas pipeline, has remained inactive since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The oil price cap—set at $60 per barrel—is a G7 measure to restrict Russian oil profits.

Von der Leyen also welcomed the US Senate initiative, which reassures Europe of President Donald Trump’s commitment to supporting Ukraine, despite his past pro-Moscow rhetoric. Graham and Blumenthal said they had 82 out of 100 US senators backing their bill.

The senators voiced skepticism over Monday’s Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul, saying they expect Moscow to make "another unrealistic demand."

However, momentum in Brussels is notably slower. “We haven’t even received legal texts for the 18th package, so agreement in two weeks [by the G7 summit] seems highly ambitious,” one EU diplomat said. Another estimated the package would likely be ready by the end of June—just in time for the EU’s final high-level meetings before the summer recess.

A third diplomat said agreement by the G7 summit is "doable" but unlikely, while a fourth added it “depends on the content of the package, but [16 June] seems ambitious.” EU ambassadors are expected to review the US proposal and the EU’s potential response in a closed-door session in Brussels on Wednesday.

Von der Leyen’s reference to curbing “Russia’s energy revenues” could include proposals to halt EU imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), which still total €7 billion annually. Yet Kremlin-aligned Hungary has previously blocked such measures, complicating EU consensus.

Meanwhile, the Graham-Blumenthal bill could stir friction in Europe if passed in its current form. It proposes sweeping 500% US tariffs on all imports from buyers of Russian oil, gas, or uranium—measures aimed at China and India, but which could also hit EU member states.

Hungary and Slovakia, still reliant on Russian oil, could be impacted. So too could Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, which continue to import Russian gas. The Czech Republic and Finland, which purchase Russian nuclear fuel, may also fall under US trade penalties.

By Tamilla Hasanova