The European Union approved the seventeenth package of sanctions against Russia on May 20, further tightening restrictions in response to Moscow’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire and the Trump administration reluctance to increase the pressure on the Kremlin.

"Sanctions matter, and I am grateful to everyone who makes them more tangible for the perpetrators of the war," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram, Reuters reports.

The EU leaders have become impatient with the Kremlin’s foot dragging, but have postponed imposing new sanctions several times his month has the diplomacy played out culminating in the first direct meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul on May 15 since the war began.

"We have repeatedly made it clear that we expect one thing from Russia – an immediate ceasefire without preconditions," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on the sidelines of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.

As Russia had not accepted a ceasefire, "we will have to react," he said. "We also expect our US allies not to tolerate this."

Although the new measures aim to curb Russia’s access to battlefield technology and expand blacklists of shipping vessels, diplomats have said the package may be less severe than initially anticipated.

The package has already secured backing from EU ambassadors, including representatives from Hungary and Slovakia, countries heavily reliant on Russian energy imports. Their support, according to officials, stems from the comparatively limited scope of the sanctions.

The proposed measures will target an additional 189 vessels associated with Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” used to circumvent oil price caps and transport sanctioned goods. With these additions, the total number of blacklisted vessels under EU restrictions will rise to nearly 350.

The new measure also include new sanctions on Nord Stream 1&2 pipelines, as a pre-emptive move after US investors suggested they might take the pipelines over and restart Russian piped gas deliveries to Europe. Trump has also reportedly raised the topic of a US-led drive to resume Russian gas deliveries to Europe in his discussions with the Kremlin.

Dropping the oil price cap sanctions price to $50 from $60 has also been discussed after oil prices tumbled to the threshold recently in anticipation of slowing global demand for oil. If the price of oil on the market is less than the $60 cap then EU oil tankers are legally allowed to transport Russian oil. However, reducing the cap price will probably be held over to the eighteenth package of sanctions, according to Brussels officials.

Separately, the EU is also discussing a controversial plan to phase out all imports of Russian oil and gas to Europe by 2027, including ending the exemptions granted to Central European countries like Hungary and Slovakia.

More damaging still is legislation proposed by US Senator Lindsey Graham in a bipartisan bill that would impose 500% tariffs on any nation that bought Russian oil, which could be imposed in tandem with the EU sanctions if the ceasefire talks are a bust.

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said the EU remains committed to economic pressure on Moscow. “We will continue to put pressure on Russia with sanctions,” he said, adding that preparations for an 18th sanctions package will begin immediately after the latest measures are adopted.

In parallel, the Ukrainian government has taken additional steps to restrict Russia’s logistical operations. The Ukrainian Parliament has passed a draft law aimed at limiting access to ports and airspace for vessels and aircraft believed to be transporting oil, weapons, or military personnel on behalf of the Russian state.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that forthcoming EU sanctions may also include new restrictions on Russian financial institutions.

All these measures come as a counterpoint to Trump’s suggestion he may off significant sanctions relief if Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to halt the hostilities.

The EU will immediately start preparing the eighteenth package of sanctions against Russia after adopting the seventeenth package, "so that Russia chooses peace," High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas said upon arrival at a meeting of EU Foreign and Defence Ministers on May 20.

"We will agree on the 17th package of sanctions today and we will continue working on the next robust package of sanctions to put more pressure on Russia so that they would also want peace," she said. When asked what might be included in the 18th package, she only said that it would be sanctions against Russian oil, reducing the price cap, and new restrictions against the shadow fleet.

Putin dragging his heels

The Kremlin continues to obfuscate the process, in what appears like a play to buy more time to press ahead with the slow but steady progress the AFR are making on  the battlefield.

Following a two-hour telephone call between Trump and Putin on May 19, the Russian president said yet again that he doesn’t object to a ceasefire in principle, but is insisting that the “root causes” of the conflict be addressed as part of the negotiations – widely taken to mean Russia’s instance that Ukraine give up its Nato ambitions.

At the same time Putin is very reluctant to pause the war and give up the Armed Forces of Russia (AFR)’s momentum, or allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) to regroup and be resupplied by its Western allies. One of the conditions Putin has put on calling a ceasefire is that all weapons transfers to Ukraine be suspended.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Russia would never bow to what she called ultimatums and she made the weapons demand explicit during a briefing on May 20. She rejected the idea that for Ukraine talks to take place, a ceasefire must be called, viewing this as the West's way of rearming Ukraine to keep fighting Russia, not seeking peace.

"What we are hearing from the West, the formula they are promoting. about the impossibility of negotiations in conditions of war, all this, of course, does not stand up to any criticism. We have heard all this before, and we’ve already gone over all this," the diplomat said.