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Sanctions, tensions — and a birthday at the FAC
Episode 8

Sanctions, tensions — and a birthday at the FAC

EU foreign ministers are gathering in Brussels with one clear goal: to agree on a 20th sanctions package against Russia.

Brussels Playbook Podcast

February 23, 202615m 43s

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Show Notes

EU foreign ministers are gathering in Brussels with one clear goal: to agree on a 20th sanctions package against Russia. But Hungary is threatening to block it — linking its support to a growing energy standoff with Ukraine over disrupted oil flows through the Druzhba pipeline.

Host Zoya Sheftalovich is joined by POLITICO’s chief foreign affairs correspondent Nick Vinocur to unpack what’s at stake at the Foreign Affairs Council.

Then we head north to Iceland, which could fast-track a referendum on restarting EU membership talks as U.S. President Donald Trump’s Greenland rhetoric and new U.S. tariffs reshape the political calculus in Reykjavík.

And finally, fresh transatlantic trade turbulence after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s global tariff regime — only for the president to announce a new 15 percent rate. Brussels is demanding clarity before moving ahead with its side of the EU-U.S. deal.

Plus: a birthday nod at the FAC.
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