WSJ: Trump may have made unrealistic EU demands to avoid sanctions against Russia

President of the United States Donald Trumpprobably made demands of the EU, knowing that the bloc would not fulfill them. This would have allowed him to avoid imposing new sanctions on Russia, reported some European diplomats to The Wall Street Journal.

The journalists note that fulfilling Trump's demand for tough sanctions against China and India and a complete cessation of Russian oil purchases for Europe "is a difficult task."

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said it would push to accelerate the EU's plan to stop importing Russian oil and gas by 2027.

"However, any steps in this direction are likely to be opposed by Hungary and Slovakia, which are heavily dependent on Russian energy. At the same time, the close ties of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban with Trump could make him more open to Washington's pressure," the Wall Street Journal writes.

• on September 13, 2025, the US President published "a letter sent to all NATO countries and the world"in which he stated that he was ready to impose "serious sanctions" against Russia when all the countries of the Alliance start doing the same and stop buying Russian oil.
• on September 15, Secretary Rubio said that Trump wants European countries to impose such sanctions on Russia, what they expect from the United States itself.
• US Treasury Secretary Bessent said that the US administration will not impose additional duties on Chinese goods to stop Beijing's purchases of Russian oil unless European countries establish the country's own high tariffs on products.