Macron: Europe Prepping Fresh Russia Sanctions ‘In Coordination’ With US

Europe is preparing new Russia sanctions ‘in coordination’ with the United States, according to fresh words of French President Emmanuel Macron.

He said while attending a European security meeting in Albania that the EU will ready these sanctions given that Russia continues to refuse an “unconditional ceasefire” with Ukraine.

“We are continuing to prepare new sanctions in coordination with the United States,” Macron told reporters, following Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on Friday, which ended without any significant breakthrough. One CNN headline, for example, says that “A whiplash week of diplomacy leaves Ukraine much where it started.”

But the talks – which involved a relatively low level delegation on the Russian side – did result in commitments to a sizeable prisoner swap, the likelihood of further rounds of talks, and both agreeing to compose their vision of a future ceasefire.

The prisoner exchange pledge is significant, given it would mark the largest since the Russian invasion: there will be an exchange 1,000 prisoners of war.

However, there’s no ceasefire – not even the 30 days that Kiev and Washington have been pushing for.

Earlier in the day Kiev’s top European allies blasted Russia’s stance as presented in Istanbul “unacceptable”:

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish leader Donald Tusk, said in a statement on Friday that “the Russian position is clearly unacceptable, and not for the first time,” according to Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal has described that “The talks, in the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, came about as the result of President Trump’s pressure, so far mostly applied on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to find an end to the war.”

President Zelensky has meanwhile been making clear that Ukraine will not surrender its territory as “this is Ukraine’s land” – and he isn’t so much as ready to even offer Crimea. Zelensky and European leaders are reportedly holding a phone call with US President Trump in the wake of the Istanbul meeting.

Prior statement of Macron two months ago…

NEW

Macron: Europe’s sanctions on the Russian Federation will be lifted only in the event that the regime withdraws behind the borders of 1991.

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— Astraia Intel (@astraiaintel) March 26, 2025

They will likely try to convince the US leader that attempts to negotiate an end to the war with Putin are futile. This seems to have been Zelensky’s aim all along: getting Washington and Trump back on his side, and securing the unending flow of weapons, cash, and intelligence.

Will the White House at the very least demand that Zelensky will acknowledge Russian sovereignty over Crimea?