According to the head of EU diplomacy, the bloc intends to introduce new sanctions as soon as possible.
The ministers of foreign affairs of the EU countries agreed to prepare new sanctions against Russia and increase arms supplies to Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization in the country. This is reported by Reuters.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Putin's statement, which included moves to annex Ukrainian territories and threaten to use nuclear weapons to “protect” Russia, showed the Kremlin's panic and desperation.
“Obviously that Putin is trying to destroy Ukraine,” Borrell told reporters after the ministerial meeting.
After a briefing by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, EU ministers agreed to instruct their teams to prepare the eighth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, which will target “more relevant sectors of the Russian economy and will continue to target those responsible for the aggressive war against Ukraine,” Borrell said.< /p>
The EU ministers will hold the next official meeting in mid-October, when the package of sanctions can be formalized.
The ministers also agreed to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Borrell declined to provide further details on the type of sanctions or military support, but he believes there will be “unanimous” support for the new measures within the bloc.
In an interview with Reuters, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said that Putin is trying to scare and divide the West, but his latest comments were a “tipping point”.
The meeting of EU ministers should emphasize unity, rapid progress with a new package of sanctions and the use of the financing mechanism of the European Peacekeeping Fund to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine, said Reynsalou.
Maintaining unity among the bloc's 27 countries over the new sanctions package could prove difficult amid the energy crisis that has hit the EU hard. Hungary has already rejected the idea of new sanctions against the Russian Federation.
However, according to Borrell, the European Union intends to introduce new sanctions as soon as possible. He also noted that the sanctions will have both a “personal and sectoral” nature and will be developed “as quickly as possible in coordination with partners.” The EU's chief diplomat said that representatives of the Russian government, as well as persons involved in the preparation of pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, may be included in the sanctions list.
Read also: Sanctions are already preventing Russia from producing weapons – NATO adviser
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Earlier it was reported that The European Union approved the seventh package of sanctions against Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. It provides for a ban on the import of Russian gold, as well as an expansion of the list of dual-purpose goods and technologies prohibited for export to the Russian Federation. The expansion of sanctions against individuals and legal entities close to the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin is also foreseen.
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