MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. The EU seeks to use sanctions to disrupt Russia-US dialogue; Israel’s operation in Qatar ends in failure; and Syria’s interim president receives an invitation to visit Moscow. These stories topped Wednesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
The European Union has come up with another way to hamper talks on Ukraine. After failing to engage the US in efforts to deploy additional troops to Ukraine, the European Commission is now trying to persuade Washington to join the EU’s 19th package of sanctions on Russia. As a requisite, the US demands the Europeans cut off Russian energy imports.
Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that US President Donald Trump’s decision on sanctions against Russia depends on how relations between Washington and Moscow progress.
The European Union has two options to abandon Russian energy supplies. The first one is to end direct purchases of oil and gas. Brussels has recently put forward a roadmap to achieve this goal by 2028. The second option, which is where Trump is pushing Europe, is to stop buying oil products manufactured in third countries such as India, Valdai Discussion Club expert Andrey Kortunov pointed out.
The logic of events could lead to the United States joining the new package of sanctions on Russia, but only formally. Trump is highly likely to achieve some success in replacing Russian energy in Europe with US supplies, said Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of Moscow State Pedagogical University’s Institute of History and Politics.
