...

Logo Pasino du Havre - Casino-Hôtel - Spa
in partnership with
Logo Nextory

EU envoy urges US to rejoin the West on sanctions against Russia over war in Ukraine

• Oct 14, 2025, 2:02 PM
8 min de lecture
1

US President Donald Trump's approach to ending Russia's war in Ukraine favours negotiation and engagement with Vladimir Putin over applying further sanctions, according to the EU's Sanctions Envoy David O'Sullivan.

However, O'Sullivan told Euronews "it's clear Putin is not responding", despite several attempts to bring Russia's president to the negotiating table.

In August in Alaska, Trump launched a major diplomatic push aimed at persuading Putin to agree to a ceasefire and a trilateral meeting with the US and Ukraine.

Neither goal materialised, and the US president is said to be deeply frustrated at Putin's apparent disingenuousness during the process.

"We wait to see exactly how President Trump responds to that, because he has shown irritation, even frustration with President Putin", the EU's sanctions envoy told Euronews.

FILE: President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrive for a press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Aug. 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska.
FILE: President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrive for a press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, Aug. 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved.

Trump is now "talking about sending additional military aid to to Ukraine", O'Sullivan said of the ongoing request by Ukraine to purchase long-range missiles for use against Russia.

"We hope that Trump will draw from the experience he's had until now that Putin clearly doesn't want peace", said O'Sullivan.

Meanwhile, the EU is close to passing its 19th sanctions package against Russia, which among other things, for the first time, includes a future ban on Russian liquified natural gas (LNG).

The bloc is one of the biggest importers of Russian LNG, and the volume imported to the EU increased by 11% in 2024 compared to 2023, according to a report by Greenpeace.

**"**It's true that they [the US] have not been enforcing sanctions to the same extent in the first few months of this year because they wanted to put the effort on mediation and on brokering a peace deal", but "they still have substantial sanctions", O'Sullivan said.

"We in the meantime will continue to apply our sanctions in conjunction with the rest of the G-7, and we hope that the US will rejoin us very soon", he said.

Spotlight on Russian assets

Brussels is also discussing a proposal from the European Commission which would see Ukraine utilising around €140 billion of frozen Russian assets kept mainly in the Euroclear, a Belgian-based repository.

The legal workaround involves providing Ukraine with a loan based on the cash balances associated to the already immobilised Russian assets. Each EU member state would share the risk of the loan.

The European Commission says the assets themselves won't be touched, unless such a time arises when there the war ends, and Russia is invited to make reparations for damages, and payments for reconstruction.

Ukraine would only pay back the loan if Russia pays for the reconstruction.

The EU says the assets will be used as leverage to force Russia to make the payments for its responsibility in the levelling of many parts of Ukraine.

FILE: Burned cars and damaged residential building are seen after a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025
FILE: Burned cars and damaged residential building are seen after a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025 Kateryna Klochko/Copyright 2025 The AP. All rights reserved

The European Commission is at pains to insist the proposal does not amount to confiscation of Russian assets, and that Moscow can claim them back at the end of the war, once it makes payments for reconstruction.

"It's not confiscation, because exactly as you say, Russia will get this back if they pay the reparations", O'Sullivan told Euronews.

"It's their choice. If they choose not to pay the money they owe for the destruction they have caused in Ukraine, then indeed Ukraine has some call on those assets in in in Europe as compensation", he said.

"We're not saying that we are going to appropriate these assets, what we are saying is we're holding them until we see how Russia is going to step up for its responsibilities and the undoubted debts that it owes for the reconstruction of Ukraine with the massive destruction, deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure that we have seen," he said.


Today

Trump threatens to cut finanical support for Argentina if Javier Milei loses election
• 11:45 AM
11 min
Trump insisted that a recent $20 billion (€17 billion) assistance package to Argentina, which administration officials strenuously deny is a bailout, was about helping “our neighbours."<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="http
Read the article
Latest US 'narco boat' strike kills six off Venezuelan coast
• 10:49 AM
5 min
The US president confirmed the attack, citing intelligence on narcotics trafficking. This marks the fifth strike since September, totaling 27 deaths.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/2025/10/15/late
Read the article
Israeli military says Hamas handed over wrong body in hostage release
• 10:30 AM
7 min
Hamas has so far returned all 20 living hostages it held and seven bodies of deceased hostages to Israel, which have been confirmed as a match with DNA analysis. The Gaza-based group still has to return the remains of 21 other hostages as part of phase on
Read the article
Thousands protest in Udine ahead of Italy–Israel World Cup qualifier
• 10:30 AM
1 min
Thousands of protesters filled the streets of Udine on Tuesday ahead of the FIFA World Cup qualifier between Italy and Israel, prompting tight security measures across the northeastern Italian city.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button">
Read the article
'Now it's 8 October': Relief for Nova Festival survivors after hostages freed from Gaza
• 10:24 AM
10 min
At the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Berlin, Euronews spoke to survivors of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and relatives of the victims.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/2025/10/15/now-its-8-oc
Read the article
Latest news bulletin | October 15th, 2025 – Midday
• 10:00 AM
1 min
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this October 15th, 2025 - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https:
Read the article
Sweden upgrades wartime shelters amid rising tensions with Russia
• 9:49 AM
2 min
Since 2024, Sweden has invested around €7.7 million to upgrade its 64,000 shelters built during World War II and the Cold War.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/2025/10/15/sweden-upgrades-wartime-she
Read the article
Dutch far-right lawmaker Wilders resumes campaign after suspected terror plot
• 9:45 AM
3 min
Geert Wilders had suspended his election campaign after being identified among the alleged targets of a suspected terror cell in Belgium.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/2025/10/15/dutch-far-right-
Read the article
US Senate rejects bill to end government shutdown as it enters third week
• 8:49 AM
4 min
The US Senate rejected a bill to reopen the government for the eighth time, extending the shutdown into its third week amid a stalemate over health care funding.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/202
Read the article
Pro-Palestinian protesters clash with police before Italy-Israel World Cup qualifier
• 8:29 AM
3 min
Thousands of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in Udine ahead of the match between Italy and Israel in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https://www.euronews.com/2025/10/15/pro-palestinian-
Read the article
Cunio brothers return home two years after attack that shocked Israel
• 5:49 AM
8 min
The story of a family that never lost faith: David and Ariel, who were kidnapped by Hamas in 2023, have been released after two years of captivity. Their 90-year-old grandmother received the news with tears and relief in her home at Nir Oz kibbutz.<div cl
Read the article
NATO defence ministers seek more arms for Ukraine as Western military support fades
• 5:01 AM
11 min
A recent series of mysterious drone incursions and airspace violations by Russian war planes has fuelled concerns that President Vladimir Putin might be testing NATO’s defensive reflexes.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="ht
Read the article
Latest news bulletin | October 15th, 2025 – Morning
• 5:00 AM
1 min
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this October 15th, 2025 - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.<div class="small-12 column text-center article__button"><a href="https:
Read the article
Israel to limit aid delivery as Rafah border reopens, Hamas returns the bodies of four more hostages
• 3:46 AM
4 min
While Trump expresses optimism over a ceasefire, fighting continues on the ground leaving more Palestinians dead and little progress in talks. Israel says it will half the aid delivery originally planned, and Gaza’s future remains uncertain.<div class="sm
Read the article