According to the official EU website, on October 12, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Asquille said in an interview before the Luxembourg meeting of EU foreign ministers that if the United States could align itself with the EU and implement the Graham Act against Russia, 'it would truly increase pressure on Russia and force it to end this war'.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, when asked about the diesel deal between Trump and Russian President Putin, she did not give a direct answer. Instead, she said, "This is why we will definitely continue along the current path. We are adding 1,600 new names to the sanctions list, because we believe that pressure on Russia is the only effective way to achieve results."
On the 12th, the Ministers of the EU member states approved a new list of sanctions against Russian military-industrial complexes, involving approximately 1,600 individuals and entities.
"Over half of the entities involved in the ballistic missile production chain are included on the EU sanctions list since the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine," Karaś stated in a social media post, indicating this represents the largest expansion in scope for the EU sanctions against Russia.
Kaspersky remains under sanctions, and the EU hopes this new round of sanctions will make it more difficult, slower, and more expensive for Russia to produce weapons.
Kallas acknowledged that although the EU continuously expands its restrictive measures, Russia 'shows creativity and finds new ways to circumvent them'.
So the EU will act even more quickly. “At the last 10 meetings of EU foreign ministers, we actually decided on new targets for sanctions. We must keep a close eye on what Russia is doing in order to respond accordingly,” said Caras.
Since 2022, the European Union has been imposing sanctions on Russian banks, energy companies, transportation sectors, and some individuals. These sanctions include restrictions on the energy sector and the 'shadow fleet'. At the same time, Europe is seeking to coordinate sanctions policies with Washington.
For a long time, Western countries have accused Russia of using commercial vessels such as oil tankers to evade Western sanctions. These commercial vessels are referred to as “shadow fleets”. In addition to Russia, Venezuela and Iran have also been accused of using such fleets to export oil.
Russia has repeatedly stated that Western restrictions are illegal, and it is impossible to force Moscow to change its foreign policy stance. The Russian government emphasizes that its economy has adapted to the pressure of sanctions, and attempts to isolate Russia have not achieved the goals desired by the West.
Carra said that if Britain and the United States can align themselves with the EU, the effectiveness of EU sanctions will be 'much better'.
She continued, stating that the UK shares the same stance as the EU. "But if the United States can also align itself with us and implement the Graham Act against Russia, we will be able to effectively increase pressure on Russia, forcing it to end this war."
In September, Trump signed the "2026 Graham Act to sanction Russia and Iran". This act aims to weaken Russia's ability to continue funding wars by targeting Russia's natural gas and oil revenues, as well as sanction countries that continue to purchase Russian energy.
In October, Trump reached an agreement with Putin regarding diesel supply.
On October 9th, after a phone call with Putin, Trump announced that Russia agreed to immediately supply over 300,000 tons of diesel to the United States and global markets. Another 500,000 tons will be supplied in November, followed by an additional 1 million tons. In addition, based on the condition of Russian refineries, Russia will also supply 3 million tons of diesel in the near future.
The US Treasury announced on the same day that it would lift sanctions on Russian diesel trade, allowing related transactions and imports, with the validity period until April 7, 2027.
This news surprised both Ukraine and Europe.
Zelenskyy said that Trump's announcement of an energy ceasefire took him by surprise, and he first learned about it through the media. "No, we didn't know about this. We also learned from the media that the President of the United States has facilitated a ceasefire in energy production. I thought their team might have contacted Russians. I think they maintain some kind of ongoing contact."
Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tschekhner said in an interview with reporters in Luxembourg on the 12th that he believes this agreement "will not actually change anything," especially regarding fuel prices. He stated that this agreement "is more related to the situation within the United States."
Karas also stated that the EU welcomes the ceasefire arrangements between Ukraine and Russia to stop attacks on energy infrastructure, provided that the ceasefire can be truly implemented.
"If the energy ceasefire could truly be maintained, we would of course welcome it. But we haven't seen Russia commit to this arrangement yet." Krasous said that she hopes any ceasefire agreement will benefit the public. However, the energy ceasefire should not only target the refineries of the two countries. "Ukraine has only one refinery, while Russia has many, so this arrangement is clearly more beneficial to Russia."
