Ammon News - The EU's top sanctions official was in Washington with a team of experts on Monday to discuss what would be the first coordinated transatlantic measures against Russia since President Donald Trump returned to office.

With Moscow continuing to pound Ukrainian cities more than three weeks after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, European leaders hope the U.S. president is finally ready to follow through on repeated threats to act.

On Sunday, after the war's biggest air attack so far set fire to government buildings in Kyiv, Trump said he was ready to move to a second phase of restrictions, the closest he has come yet to announcing new sanctions.

Trump, who took office in January promising a swift end to the war, has repeatedly set deadlines for Moscow to agree a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions, only to back off before new measures were imposed.

The EU gave few details about the mission by its sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan to the United States. But should he succeed in coordinating a package with the Americans, it would be the first time that has happened since Trump returned to office. Sanctions were regularly coordinated between Europe and the United States under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden.

Antonio Costa, the president of the EU's council of national leaders, said new sanctions were being closely coordinated with the U.S.

EU officials are hopeful of better cooperation after several disappointments early in the year as Trump pursued his own peace talks with Putin.

Reuters