00:00So senior EU figures are in Washington, including the sanctions envoy, holding talks with U.S. officials.
00:08What is driving this fresh push for action against Russia right now?
00:14Yes, Leanne, the EU sanctions envoy, his team of technical experts, they are here in Washington.
00:20And they're going to be trying to hammer out some details to get some kind of measures when it comes to sanctions on the table agreed with the U.S.
00:31that will really bite, that will push perhaps Russia and Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
00:38And really, this has come about after we've seen this weekend the largest ever air attack on Ukraine by Russia, multiple cities targeted,
00:47those huge drone attacks that you mentioned among those killed, Leanne, a three month old baby.
00:53So there's a real sense both here in Washington and in Brussels that this war has entered a dangerous new phase.
01:01Over the last year, we've seen Washington and Europe largely out of step when it comes to the issue of how to deal with Russia.
01:10We know that the U.S. under President Trump has really prioritized pushing for peace and its own diplomatic efforts with Vladimir Putin.
01:19But with these latest attacks and with little development on that front, despite President Trump having met face to face with Vladimir Putin recently,
01:29we've now seen the president come out and say, yes, he is ready for the second phase of sanctions.
01:35He's also said, Leanne, he's going to be speaking to Vladimir Putin very soon, possibly in the coming days.
01:43But first, the EU sanctions envoy and his team, they're going to be looking to get on the same page here
01:48when it comes to sanctions with the U.S. to try and give those sanctions maximum impact.
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