EditEU to propose faster phase-out of Russian energy, von der Leyen announces after Trump call
The Commission President also said that the 19th sanctions package targeting crypto, banks, and energy would be presented "soon"
The European Commission will propose speeding up the phase-out of Russian fossil imports, European Union executive head Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday, following a call with U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at intensifying economic pressure on Moscow.
Von der Leyen announced the move in a post on social media platform X, emphasizing joint transatlantic efforts to curb Russia’s war funding more than three years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
I had a good call with @POTUS on strengthening our joint efforts to increase economic pressure on Russia through additional measures.
The Commission will soon present its 19th package of sanctions, targeting crypto, banks, and energy.
Russia’s war economy, sustained by revenues…
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 16, 2025
“The Commission will soon present its 19th package of sanctions, targeting crypto, banks, and energy,” she wrote. “The Commission will propose speeding up the phase-out of Russian fossil imports,” she added, signalling a potential acceleration of the bloc’s existing timeline to end purchases of Russian oil and gas by 1 January 2028.
The announcement comes amid heightened U.S. pressure on Europe to shoulder more responsibility in starving Russia’s war machine of revenue. Despite significant progress in reducing reliance on Russian energy – EU imports of Russian pipeline gas have plummeted by over 90% since 2021 – the bloc still buys billions of euros worth of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil products, and enriched uranium annually.
These imports, valued at around €25 billion last year, continue to bolster Moscow’s coffers, even as the EU has diversified supplies through LNG terminals in Germany and Greece, and boosted imports from Norway and the United States.
Trump’s recent rhetoric has sharpened this transatlantic divide. His “open letter to NATO nations and the world” posted on Sunday underscores a familiar strategy of exerting pressure on allies, demanding they halt all Russian oil purchases and impose steep tariffs on China to weaken Moscow’s economic lifeline in the Ukraine war.
In the letter, Trump positions himself as the decisive peacemaker, ready to unleash “major sanctions” on Russia only if NATO members match his resolve, while blasting the alliance’s uneven commitment and ongoing energy imports as “shocking” betrayals that undermine negotiations. This blunt ultimatum – framed as a prerequisite for his intervention – shifts the burden squarely onto Europe and deflects attention from Trump’s failure to secure peace in Ukraine.
The timing of Trump’s post was no coincidence. It followed a weekend of closed-door G7 discussions where U.S. officials, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, reiterated demands for Europe to lead on energy sanctions. Bessent, in a Fox News interview aired Sunday, stated that the Trump administration would withhold additional tariffs on Chinese goods – aimed at curbing Beijing’s role as a top buyer of Russian oil – unless the EU first imposes punitive duties on both China and India, the world’s largest purchasers of discounted Russian crude.
“Europe can’t keep asking us to do the heavy lifting while they sip Russian LNG,” Bessent said.
The 19th sanctions package, originally slated for unveiling to EU envoys on Wednesday, was abruptly delayed on Monday. The holdup, first reported by Politico, stems from ongoing internal wrangling over how to align the measures with Trump’s demands without fracturing bloc unity.
Expected to blacklist additional Russian banks for evading existing restrictions, target Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of opaque oil tankers that skirt sanctions, and curb circumvention schemes in third countries, the package now incorporates proposals to tighten LNG import bans and accelerate the fossil fuel wind-down.
The postponement allows time to address holdouts like Hungary and Slovakia, which remain hooked on Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. Budapest and Bratislava have vetoed past packages over energy carve-outs, and recent U.S. pressure – including Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call for Europe to “step up or step aside” – has intensified scrutiny on these outliers.
Critics within the EU argue the delay risks diluting the package’s bite.
With Reuters, edited by g.g.
Caption: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a ‘State of the Union’ debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, 10 September 2025. EPA/RONALD WITTEK
Updated: September 17, 2025 - 06:47
