With the ink still drying on the European Unions freshly printed17th sanctions packageon Russia, work is already underway on a next step that European leaders say will bemassive.

But some analysts warn that, in many ways, the EU has already used its best cards and doesnt have many left in its hand, especially at a time when Washington seems reluctant to join in as it pushes peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

The cards that we still have to play largely include measures for which we would need the United States, Benjamin Hilgenstock, Senior Economist at the Kyiv-based KSE Institute, a think tank, told RFE/RL.

Specifically, this would be about removing Russian oil and gas from global markets in volume, he said, adding that counties such as India, China, and Turkey would not stop buying Russian fossil fuels without the weight of secondary US sanctions.

European leaders threatened Russia with massive sanctions on May 10 if Moscow did not agree to a 30-day cease-fire proposed by Washington. They said they were making their demand after coordinating it with US President Donald Trump.