Europeans aim to coordinate first sanctions against Russia with Trump administration

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Finland's President Alexander Stubb, pose for a family photo amid negotiations to end the Russian war in Ukraine, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alexander Drago/File Photo

(Reuters) -The EU's top sanctions official was in Washington with a team of experts on Monday to discuss what would be the first coordinated transatlantic measures against Russia since President Donald Trump returned to office.

With Moscow continuing to pound Ukrainian cities more than three weeks after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, European leaders hope the U.S. president is finally ready to follow through on repeated threats to act.