LOS ANGELES.–Making the prospects of peace in Ukraine all the more unlikely, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced new sanctions on Moscow, capping the price of Russian crude oil at $45 a barrel and banning all Russian banks and financial institutions from doing business with Russia. Van de Leyen’s actions, while not ratified yet by all 27 EU countries, constitute an act of war by Brussels against Moscow. Ukraine’s 47-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the EU’s new sanction package, calling on the U.S. to do the same. Von der Leyen’s new sanctions prohibit any EU operator from transacting directly or indirectly with the Nord Stream 1 or 2 pipelines, anything that would bring Russian natural gas to the European Union. Von der Leyen said the sanctions were needed “because strength is the only language that Russia will understand.”
EU officials are making a big mistake going after the Kremlin, when they’re currently losing the war, where Zelensky continues to lose more sovereign territory, most recently in Donetsk, to the Kremlin. Sanctions have been tried before but failed to stop Russia’s allies like China and India from buying Russian crude oil. Whether von der Leyen admits it or not, more sanctions only pushes ceasefire and peace talks further out of reach. When does von der Leyen think that coercion works with Putin? Zelensky criticizes 79-year-old U.S. President Donald Trump for not jumping on the sanctions bandwagon. Zelensky has rejected Trump’s peace efforts because they involve trading land-for-peace, something Zelensky refuses to do. Every peacemaker over the last three years of war has urged Zelensky to compromise with Putin in order to get a peace deal.
Von der Leyen is grossly deluded thinking that hitting Putin with more sanctions would hasten the peace process. Von der Leyen could get the EU into fighting Russia directly, especially if Putin decides to attack any EU countries for their direct participation in the Ukraine War. Zelensky met recently with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Defense Secretary Boris Pistorius, both committed to helping Ukraine build its own long-rang missile systems. Zelensky asked Merz to send Kiev German-made Taurus missile, something his predecessor former Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. Scholz was concerned about Putin’s threat to drag any country that supplied long-range missiles into the conflict. Von der Leyen’s threats to the Kremlin can only result in bad things for the EU. Putin actually responds better when adversaries express interest in peace.
Von der Leyen repeats the same claptrap as Zelensky who insists on slapping Putin with more economic sanctions. “We want peace for Ukraine. Despite weeks of diplomatic attempts, despite [Ukraine’s] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky’s offer of an unconditional ceasefire, Russia continues to bring death and destruction to Ukraine. Russia’s goal is not peace, it is to impose rule of might. Therefore, we are ramping up pressure on Russia,” von der Leyen said at news conference. Von de Leyen insists that Putin doesn’t want peace but he sent a delegation led by Vladimir Medinsky to Instanbul to begin preliminary peace talks. Von der Leyen wanted Putin to meet Zelensky in Instanbul to discuss peace. But Zelensky has rejected all of Putin’s conditions as blackmail, including ceding Kherson, Zaporizhizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk to the Russian Federation.
Zelensky offers an unconditional peace to stop the fighting but not because he wants to negotiate and compromise on a peace deal. Von der Leyen says nothing to Zelensky about striking deep inside Russia at Putin’s strategic bombing fleet, prompting Putin to retaliate in recent days. EU’s approach to Putin is exactly the wrong strategy to bring him to the peace table. Trump has refused to join the EU sanctions because he knows that nothing good can come from it. “Russia’s ability to continue the war is equal to its ability to sell their oil and bypass financial barriers,” Zelensky said, calling for more EU sanctions. Zelensky also condemned the lack of sanctions from Trump, knowing he’s trying to restore normal diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. Former President Joe Biden all but destroyed U.S.-Russian relations by funding proxy war in Ukraine with the Kremlin.
Von der Leyen walks on thin ice slapping Putin with more economic sanctions, saying Putin only responds to force. But if Von der Leyen felt so strongly about the dangers of Russian adventurism in Europe, why hasn’t she supplied French, German, British or Polish troops to the Ukraine theater to fight the Russian Federation. Hitting the Kremlin with more sanctions is the equivalent of economic warfare. “Russia has been constantly increasing the number of munitions in its strikes. This is a steady trend, and it means that Moscow is not afraid of anyone in the world,” Zelensky said, criticizing Trump for not taking decisive action. “Putin wants to continue killing and is taking advantage of the fact that he is not getting a strong response. He does not hear Washington. And this speaks volumes to world, to everyone,” Zelensky said, urging the EU to go ahead with sanctions.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.