America News Agency

Trump’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, hinted that Europe would eventually be invited to the negotiation table to discuss easing sanctions on the Kremlin.

After meeting with his Russian counterpart in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Rubio said, "There are other parties imposing sanctions, and at some point, the European Union will need to be at the table because they also have sanctions in place."

He emphasized that "all parties" would need to make concessions. When asked if Europe was being excluded from the process, he responded, "Nobody is being left out."

The agreement between ambassadors on Wednesday was intentionally timed to coincide with the third anniversary of the invasion, which EU Commissioners will commemorate with a joint visit to Kyiv. This marks the 16th sanctions package since February 2022.

The new sanctions include a ban on importing Russian primary aluminum, an idea previously discussed but never approved due to concerns from some member states about its economic impact.

In addition to metals, the latest sanctions package expands the blacklist of oil tankers in Russia's "shadow fleet," which plays a key role in circumventing Western restrictions on oil trade.

According to diplomats, the new EU sanctions blacklist 73 additional ships, bringing the total number to 153.

All of these ships are barred from entering EU ports or using EU services.

Furthermore, the sanctions remove 13 Russian banks from the SWIFT electronic payment system and suspend the broadcasting licenses of eight Russian media outlets.

The sanctions are expected to be officially adopted on Monday when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels.