US President Donald Trump urged European leaders to stop buying Russian oil to pressure Moscow to end its war on Ukraine, and said economic pressure should be applied on China "for funding Russia's war efforts," a White House official said Thursday.
Trump made the appeal when he called into a "Coalition of the Willing" meeting hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris that seeks to rally support for Ukraine.
"President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war — as Russia received €1.1 billion in fuel sales from the EU in one year," the official said in a statement. "The President also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia's war efforts."
The official said Trump will soon be making an announcement regarding Russia, but did not lay out a firm timeline, and said that during the call, "diverging views among European leaders on how to address the ongoing conflict" became apparent.
Macron said Europe would impose additional sanctions with the US if Russia continues to refuse peace talks.
"If Russia continues to refuse concrete peace talks ... then we will impose additional sanctions together with the United States and provide clear responses to this refusal to move forward," he said at the end of the meeting on Thursday.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy separately said Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to meet in Moscow is a non-starter.
"Our American partners told us that Putin invited me to Moscow, and I believe that if you want to avoid a meeting, you should invite me to Moscow," he said.
