The issue of sanctions against Russia has already been a sensitive topic between Donald Trump's United States and Europe. Now, it threatens to further strain relations between China, Moscow's main partner, and the Europeans, due to the US president's demands in the context of the war in Ukraine and rising trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has sought to move closer to Moscow behind the backs of his allies. He has hesitated to take new retaliatory measures against Russia, despite persistent requests from European capitals, which view such measures as a way to force Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. Before increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin, the US president has, in recent days, set out a series of ever-tougher conditions for his European partners. "I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA," he wrote on Saturday, September 13, in a post on his Truth Social network. He also urged them to impose "50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA."

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