Biden and his allies vow to take a tougher stance; Ukraine counteroffensive enters its second week

They vowed to tighten sanctions on Russia, however the Europeans stopped wanting blocking imports of Russian oil and gasoline, as the US has performed. Europe is vastly depending on Russian power, paying Mr. Putin the huge revenues wanted to help his army — and giving him the facility to wreak havoc on Europe by disrupting provides.

“I feel we’re seeing a coordinated divergence between the European Union and the US,” mentioned Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group. “There’s no rupture or perhaps a break up. Quite, there may be an settlement that the U.S. will go extra aggressively than the E.U. as a result of they will afford to take action.”

Talking to reporters Thursday night, Mr. Biden mentioned that he had requested the emergency conferences — with leaders of NATO, the European Union and the Group of seven industrialized nations — to point out Mr. Putin that the allies won’t “crack” of their dedication to maintain financial strain on Russia over days, weeks, months and extra.

“We have now to remain absolutely, completely, totally united,” he mentioned, including that he favors ejecting Russia from the Group of 20 industrialized and creating nations.

For Mr. Zelensky, although, none of it was sufficient. He has develop into extra pointed in his criticism of Western restraint on army support as Russian forces have savaged Ukrainian cities and cities, particularly within the south.

Talking by video to NATO leaders behind closed doorways, Mr. Zelensky thanked them for his or her help however chided them for not doing extra. He described his battered nation, which isn’t a NATO member, as trapped “within the ‘grey zone’ between the West and Russia,” in response to a transcript launched by the Ukrainian authorities.

“On Feb. 24, I addressed you with a superbly clear, logical request to assist shut our skies,” he mentioned of his request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine to maintain Russian planes away. “In any format. Shield our folks from Russian bombs and missiles. We didn’t hear a transparent reply.”