They vowed to tighten sanctions on Russia, but the Europeans stopped short of blocking imports of Russian oil and gas, as the United States has done. Europe is hugely dependent on Russian energy, paying Mr. Putin the vast revenues needed to support his military — and giving him the power to wreak havoc on Europe by disrupting supplies.
“I think we’re seeing a coordinated divergence between the European Union and the United States,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group. “There’s no rupture or even a split. Rather, there is an agreement that the U.S. will go more aggressively than the E.U. because they can afford to do so.”
Speaking to reporters Thursday evening, Mr. Biden said that he had requested the emergency meetings — with leaders of NATO, the European Union and the Group of 7 industrialized nations — to show Mr. Putin that the allies will not “crack” in their determination to keep economic pressure on Russia over days, weeks, months and more.
“We have to stay fully, totally, thoroughly united,” he said, adding that he favors ejecting Russia from the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations.
For Mr. Zelensky, though, none of it was enough. He has become more pointed in his criticism of Western restraint on military aid as Russian forces have savaged Ukrainian cities and towns, especially in the south.
Speaking by video to NATO leaders behind closed doors, Mr. Zelensky thanked them for their support but chided them for not doing more. He described his battered country, which is not a NATO member, as trapped “in the ‘gray zone’ between the West and Russia,” according to a transcript released by the Ukrainian government.
“On Feb. 24, I addressed you with a perfectly clear, logical request to help close our skies,” he said of his request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine to keep Russian planes away. “In any format. Protect our people from Russian bombs and missiles. We did not hear a clear answer.”
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