President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen warned that "more sanctions on Russia's financial sector" are being prepared as she met with other leaders at the European Political Community summit in Albania, Friday (May 16), Reuters reports.
"We are ready to do more to bring Putin to the negotiation table", Von der Leyen said, adding that a next set of EU sanctions against Russia is being listed.
The EU has already adopted 17 sanction packages - the latest one this week - and diplomats say it is increasingly difficult to get the necessary unanimity among the bloc's 27 members to pass new measures.
Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in Istanbul on Friday for what was billed as their first direct peace talks in more than three years, under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Russian President Putin on Sunday (May 11) proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey, but has spurned a challenge from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet him in person, and instead has sent a team of mid-ranking officials to the talks.
