Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries plan to increase sanctions against Russia at their summit in Japan this week, with measures aimed at energy and exports that will aid Moscow's military efforts.
This was reported by officials who are directly aware of the progress of the discussions.
The new measures, announced by the leaders during their May 19-21 meeting, will be aimed at evading sanctions involving third countries, as well as undermining future Russian energy production and limiting trade that supports the Russian military.
Separately, US officials also expect G7 members to agree to adjust their approach to sanctions so that, at least for certain categories of goods, all exports are automatically banned.
The Biden administration has previously pushed the G7 allies to change their joint sanctions approach, which now allows all goods to be sold to Russia unless they are blacklisted.
This change may make it more difficult for Moscow to find loopholes in the sanctions regime.
Although the allies have not agreed on a broad application of the more restrictive approach, US officials expect that in areas most sensitive to Russia's military, G7 members will adopt a presumption that exports are prohibited unless they are on a special list.
The specific areas where these new rules will apply are still being discussed.
"It is worth expecting that there will be changes in several areas, especially related to the Russian defense and industrial base," said the American official, who declined to give his name.
The exact wording of the G7 leaders' joint declaration is still subject to discussion and tweaking before it is released at the summit.
Western allies of Ukraine are looking for new ways to strengthen already existing restrictive sanctions against Russia - from export controls to visa restrictions and oil price caps. Some US allies resist the idea of a broad trade ban.
The European Union, for example, has its own approach and is also currently negotiating an 11th package of sanctions, the bulk of which focuses on people and countries circumventing existing trade restrictions.
"The approach that is sometimes discussed: 'First ban everything and then make exceptions', in our opinion, will not work. We want to be very, very precise and we want to avoid unwanted side effects," said one German official.
It was previously reported that the countries of the "Group of Seven" (G7) and the European Union plan to ban the import of Russian gas via the routes by which Moscow previously reduced supplies.
