We have just imposed heavy sanctions on Russia and we are preparing for a sixth wave
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday during her visit to kyiv with Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky keeps asking all his European interlocutors the adoption of powerful sanctions
. He is calling for a halt to oil and gas purchases and the supply of heavy weapons to resist the announced offensive in the Donbass region (east).
Josep Borrell announced his intention to launch the discussion on an oil embargo on Monday, but a formal proposal is not on the table
acknowledged a senior European official on Friday.
” Unanimity is required for the adoption of sanctions. We can clearly see the dependencies vis-à -vis Russia in several Member States. »
Germany, Italy, Austria and Hungary are very dependent on Russian gas.
We are not going to present something that will not pass. Proposals must be made in a timely manner
he explained.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine at the end of February, the Kremlin has made 27.3 billion dollars from the purchases of oil, gas and coal fromEUaccording to Velina Tchakarova, director of the Austrian Institute for Europe and Security Policy (AIES).
Fund and deliver new weapons
L’EU decreed an embargo on coal purchases, but their amount is much lower than those of gas and oil.
On the other hand, the ministers will validate the release of an additional 500 million euros to finance and deliver new weapons to kyiv, according to several diplomats from theEU.
Sanctions are important, but they will not solve the problem in Donbass. The battle in the Donbass will be decisive for the outcome of the war
said Josep Borrell on Saturday.
Russia is bombarding Ukraine from the sea from ships located beyond the reach of Ukrainian weapons and kyiv forces need long-range weapons and more armored vehicles
explained a senior European official.
Slovakia announced on Friday that it had supplied kyiv with a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft defense system.
During their meeting, the ministers will discuss with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, the support of theEU investigations into possible war crimes in Ukraine.
