Lithuania’s foreign minister says he sees prospects that coordinated efforts of the US and the EU will increase pressure on Russia.
According to Kęstutis Budrys, who participated in the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome this week, significant progress may be achieved in the coming weeks.
“The discussion [of the Coalition of the Willing] left me with the feeling that there could be significant progress in the coming weeks,” the Lithuanian minister said in a statement recording released by the Foreign Ministry.
According to Budrys, two US senators and General Keith Kellogg, Washington’s special envoy for negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, participated in the conference and demonstrated the US efforts to expand sanctions on Russia.
“We discussed how to synchronise Europe’s 18th package of sanctions with the efforts of the United States to significantly expand sanctions against Russia and include countries that help Russia earn money from oil, to affect Russia’s main oil buyers,” Budrys said.
According to him, 70 percent of Russian oil, which is also transported by a shadow fleet, is now bought by India and China.
“We hope that the legislative process in the US will move forward. We know that there is absolute and unprecedented support for this package of sanctions in the US Senate – 85 out of 100 senators have already signed in favour of this package, all that remains is to coordinate with the White House and President Donald Trump, and we will see how much momentum this train will gain,” Budrys said.
“I really hope that this will also help convince and break down the last country opposing the [EU’s] 18th package of sanctions, Slovakia,” he added.
The 18th package of sanctions includes new restrictions on Russia’s energy and banking sectors, as well as bans on transactions related to the Nord Stream gas pipeline project.
On Tuesday, Trump said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was talking “a lot of bullshit” on Ukraine. Asked about his interest in a bill proposed by the Senate for further sanctions on Russia, Trump said: “I’m looking at it very strongly.”
Trump’s criticism of Putin came a day after the US president said he would send more weapons to Ukraine, in a reversal of Washington’s announcement last week that it was halting some arms shipments.
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