Brussels managed to prove to Trump that Russia does not want to end the war – Politico

European officials said they were able to convince U.S. President Donald Trump that Russia is not interested in ending the war and that more pressure must be applied to it to bring the conflict to an end.

This was reported by Politico, citing sources.

According to the publication, during a series of diplomatic visits that took place last week, senior U.S. and European officials met to discuss new financial restrictions and plans to stop supplies of Russian oil and gas. For this purpose, a high-level EU technical group was sent to Washington to work out the details of the proposals, the main objectives of which, sources say, were approved by both sides.

“Trump is finally on our side. The question now is how to combine these two approaches,” said one EU diplomat.

The publication notes that the Trump administration prefers to use trade tools such as tariffs to reduce the Kremlin’s ability to finance the war. The EU, however, insists on imposing formal sanctions on companies and financial institutions that cooperate with Moscow.

A second European diplomat said they expect “heated discussions” with the U.S. about how to actually strike at Russia.

At the same time, other Western media write about disagreements between the U.S. and Europe regarding pressure on Russia. The White House is demanding that Europeans impose huge tariffs against China and India, which Europe does not want to do.