European leaders are preparing to impose a new round of punitive trade measures on Russia following President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to attend negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul.
The absence of the Russian leader has been widely interpreted in European capitals as an evasion of diplomacy, prompting calls for decisive economic retaliation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who travelled to Turkey in anticipation of direct peace talks, was instead met by a lower-level Russian delegation headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin. The Russian president, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, would not attend the meeting. Despite this, Ukraine proceeded to participate in the talks, led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. Zelenskyy has said that both the United States and Turkey would act as mediators in any future negotiations.
The anticipated meeting in Istanbul would have been the first formal contact between the two sides since early 2022, shortly after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Putin’s refusal to engage has drawn condemnation and has shifted the focus of the European response towards additional sanctions.
At the European Political Community summit in Tirana on Friday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, President Zelenskyy, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are convening to explore how to pressure Moscow into halting its aggression. According to four European officials cited by Politico, the talks will concentrate on strengthening sanctions against Russia, including new import tariffs.
Two of the officials confirmed that so-called “punitive tariffs” on Russian goods are under active discussion. While the European Union has already introduced multiple sanctions packages since 2022, including restrictions on finance, technology, and energy, a total trade embargo has not been enacted. Tariffs are being considered as a legal workaround to avoid the need for unanimous approval, which has been blocked in the past by Hungary.
On Wednesday, EU ambassadors agreed to the bloc’s 17th sanctions package. It includes measures targeting nearly 200 vessels from Russia’s “shadow fleet”, used to circumvent restrictions on oil and gas exports.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot reinforced the need for escalated economic pressure, telling BFMTV that Europe and the United States “must go further” and “suffocate” the Russian economy in order to bring an end to the war. “We must prepare to impose devastating sanctions that could suffocate the Russian economy once and for all,” Barrot said.
An EU official stated that the bloc is taking inspiration from a proposal made by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who has suggested imposing tariffs of up to 500 per cent on Russian exports if the Kremlin does not halt its military operations. “We would take inspiration from the magnitude of his proposal,” the official confirmed.
Zelenskyy, addressing the delay in high-level talks, said that Washington and Ankara remained committed to mediating future negotiations. However, Putin’s failure to appear has significantly undermined the immediate prospects of any breakthrough. U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One, dismissed the Istanbul meeting as inconsequential without Putin’s direct involvement. “Look, nothing is gonna happen until Putin and I get together,” he said.
A senior UK official commented earlier in the week that if the talks in Turkey proved unsuccessful, the emphasis would shift towards forging consensus on stronger sanctions. That statement followed a joint warning issued in Kyiv on Saturday by the leaders of France, Germany, and Poland, who pledged additional measures if Moscow did not commit to a “total and unconditional ceasefire”.
Friday’s summit in Tirana is viewed by many in Europe as a critical opportunity to demonstrate unity in support of Ukraine and to signal to the Kremlin that Western patience with limited measures is coming to an end. The presence of Zelenskyy alongside leaders from NATO and EU states, as well as Turkey, adds symbolic weight to the event.
The EU’s sanction strategy has expanded gradually over the past three years but has repeatedly encountered obstacles from within the bloc. Hungary has been the most consistent opponent of new energy-related sanctions. Some European capitals now see the introduction of tariffs as a viable method to circumvent these internal hurdles while maintaining collective pressure on Moscow.
As discussions in Tirana unfold, the possibility of sweeping new trade measures targeting Russian imports appears increasingly likely. European leaders hope such steps will weaken the Kremlin’s ability to sustain its war economy and force a return to serious negotiations. Whether the strategy will shift Moscow’s calculations, however, remains uncertain.
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