Ukraine presents its plan to impose sanctions on Russia to the EU.
Ukraine is asking the EU to consider new sanctions against Russia, amid the US's refusal to take joint action.
According to Reuters, Ukraine will ask the EU next week to consider major new steps to isolate Moscow, including seizing Russian assets and imposing sanctions on certain countries that buy Russian oil. This action is being prompted by US President Donald Trump's delay in tightening sanctions.
A previously unpublished Ukrainian white paper will be submitted to the EU calling on the 27-member bloc to take a tougher and more independent stance on sanctions amid uncertainty surrounding Washington's future role.
Among the 40 pages of recommendations is a call for legislation that would expedite the EU's seizure of assets from sanctioned individuals and their transfer to Ukraine. The sanctioned individuals could then seek compensation from Russia.
The EU should consider a range of steps to impose stronger sanctions outside its territory, including targeting foreign companies that use EU technology to help Russia and "applying secondary sanctions to buyers of Russian oil".
Such secondary sanctions – which could affect major buyers like India and China – would be a significant step that Europe has so far been hesitant to take. US President Donald Trump has discussed this publicly before deciding not to impose new sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine's white paper also called on the EU to consider making greater use of majority-based decisions on sanctions, to prevent individual countries from blocking measures that require the unanimous consent of all members.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Ukrainian document.
Earlier, following a phone call with the Russian leader, President Trump decided not to impose new sanctions on Russia. This dashed the hopes of European and Ukrainian leaders, who had been actively lobbying Trump for weeks to increase pressure on Moscow.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Trump spoke with Ukrainian and European leaders after his call with Putin and told them he didn't want to impose sanctions right now and wanted time for negotiations to take place.
The EU and the UK imposed further sanctions on Russia on May 20, and indicated they still hope Washington will join them. Europe is openly discussing ways it can maintain pressure on Russia if Washington is no longer willing to cooperate.
