New sanctions against Russia are on the way. The topic is on the agenda of the meeting of EU foreign ministers tomorrow, April 11, in Luxembourg. It is the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow. However, the freeze on gas and Russian crude oil divides the 27. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said he would start discussing the oil embargo tomorrow. However, at the moment there is no formal position and “unanimity for the passage of sanctions” is required.
RussiaUkraine war: the latest news
The import node
Ukrainian President Zelenskyj calls for an import ban again: “Ukraine has no time to wait. Freedom has no time to wait. When tyranny launches aggression against anything that keeps peace in Europe, we must act immediately on one criterion and the oil embargo should be the first step. At the level of all democracies, of the whole civilized world. Then Russia will hear it. Then it will be an important issue for them to seek peace and stop senseless violence”.
Borrell: “Kyiv asks for weapons, we’ll get them”
Meanwhile, the meeting Zelensky had with Borrel and the official’s remarks provoked Moscow’s ire. “I come back with a list of weapons that Ukrainians need. And we will follow her. But as the European Union, we have no weapons. We have to knock on the member states’ door and say what is needed,” the EU High Representative for Affairs and Security Policy told some newspapers, including Corriere della Sera, upon returning from Kyiv. Borrel then said he was convinced “this war will be won on the ground”.
.@Denys_Shmyhal, I will take your request for support back to Brussels. It’s not rhetoric to say your fight is our fight, so we have to help you. #StandWithUkraine https://t.co/KqSWymvHjj pic.twitter.com/ezpHBpKccW
European External Action Service EEAS 🇪🇺 (@eu_eeas) April 9, 2022
Moscow’s reactions
Borrel’s words have not escaped Moscow, which is calling for his impeachment. “Borrell must be fired from the EU states immediately. His task is to seek a solution to the problem through diplomatic channels,” thundered Duma President Vyacheslav Volodin. The Telegram politician lashed out at the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, stressing that “for the first time in modern history a European official has advocated a military rather than a diplomatic solution to an armed conflict”.