Merz announced the strengthening of sanctions pressure on Russia by European countries

European countries will increase pressure on Moscow with the help of sanctions. This was announced on May 19 by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

"Europe will increase pressure on Moscow with the help of sanctions. We agreed on this with [US President Donald Trump] after his talks with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," he wrote on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

According to him, Europe will accompany Ukraine on the way to a ceasefire.

Package by package: The EU is determined to stop all trade with Russia

Experts assessed the likelihood of a radical scenario with the severance of trade ties.

On May 17, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States could tighten sanctions against Russia in the absence of progress in negotiations on a peaceful settlement. According to him, the Trump administration has asked Congress to give "some time" to resolve this issue.

On May 16, it was reported that the European Union (EU) countries are considering an initiative to impose a full trade embargo against Russia. It is noted that Europe borrowed the idea of new restrictions from US Senator Lindsey Graham (Russia is on the list of extremists and terrorists), who proposed to impose duties of 500% on Russian exports.