Media: US urges Europe to share burden of sanctions on Russia

The United States does not want to bear the costs of pressuring Russia alone, and European countries are expected to contribute more significantly, according to Axios and India Today.

Axios reports that the sanctions the US is urging Europe to adopt against Russia include a complete halt to all oil and gas purchases, as well as the imposition of secondary tariffs on India and China, similar to those already applied by the US to India.

“Europeans cannot prolong this war and set unrealistic expectations for workarounds while expecting America to carry the costs,” a senior White House official told Axios.

“If Europe wants to escalate this war, that will be its choice. But it will then hopelessly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,” 

Sources cited by India Today said the White House has asked European countries to implement sanctions mirroring those the US has already imposed on India, including a full stop to oil and gas supplies from New Delhi.

The Trump administration also wants Europe to introduce secondary tariffs on India, as the US has previously warned, if New Delhi does not halt its oil purchases from Moscow.

By Khagan Isayev