The Belgian capital, Brussels, is preparing to host high-level political meetings this weekend, in which the leaders of the member states of the European Union, in addition to the Group of Seven and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), will participate to discuss the issue of the war in Ukraine and energy supplies.

US President Joe Biden heads to Brussels on Wednesday for talks with European leaders on Russia's war on Ukraine, bringing with him plans to impose more sanctions on Moscow, sources said, including members of the Russian parliament.

Biden's talks in Brussels include NATO and European leaders, in addition to a visit to Warsaw for consultations with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Two well-informed sources said that Biden and his team are working on plans to impose sanctions on members of the Russian parliament (Duma), and the sanctions are expected to be announced on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the sanctions could include 300 members of the State Duma.

"No final decisions have been made about who and how many we will sanction," a White House spokesman said.

"We will announce additional sanctions measures in conjunction with our allies on Thursday when the president has the opportunity to speak with them," he added.


indirect conflict

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday that Biden will attend an emergency NATO summit on Thursday, meet with G7 leaders and address the 27 European Union leaders at a session of the European Council.

In addition to imposing new sanctions on Russia, Sullivan said, Biden will work with US allies to toughen existing sanctions "to prevent sanctions from being evaded and to ensure that they are strictly enforced."

Biden pledged not to engage in direct conflict with Russia, but promised that the United States would defend all NATO territories, and also ordered more American troops to be sent to the alliance's eastern flank to allay allies' fears and reassure them.

In London, The Times newspaper quoted a British government source that any negotiations with Russia must be from a position of strength, and that the G7 countries need to show a unity of position in this regard.

The government source warned against making what he called early concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The newspaper said that British ministers expressed their growing concerns about the talks that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are holding with the Russian President.

In a parallel context, the United States and its Western allies are studying the issue of Russia's exclusion from the Group of Twenty major economies, according to sources involved in the discussions told Reuters.

The sources said that the possibility of other countries in the group, including China, India, Saudi Arabia and others, rejecting any attempt to exclude Russia, increased the possibility that some members would not attend this year's meetings.

The G20, along with the smaller Group of Seven - which includes only the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and Britain - is a key international forum for coordinating everything from climate change measures to cross-border debt.