The United States and the European Union have reached “a broad consensus on the need to increase pressure on the Kremlin, in particular through the adoption of new sanctions,” the Italian government said on Tuesday evening.
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The allies also agreed on the need “to increase the international isolation of Moscow,” the government said in a statement.
The Italian announcement was confirmed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a tweet: “We will increase our sanctions against Russia again.”
This position was taken during a virtual meeting devoted to the Russian offensive in Ukraine between US President Joe Biden and the main allies of the United States, at a time when Moscow has unleashed in the Donbass a new phase of his attack.
The videoconference brought together French leaders Emmanuel Macron, British Boris Johnson, German Olaf Scholz, Romanian Klaus Iohannis, Polish Andrzej Duda, Italian Mario Draghi, Canadian Justin Trudeau and Japanese Fumio Kishida.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also took part in the call, as well as the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.
In a statement, Mr. Stoltenberg also confirmed that the participants had agreed “on the importance of making Moscow pay even more” for its invasion of Ukraine.
In addition, according to the Italian government, “the common commitment to diversify energy sources by reducing in this way the dependence on Russian supplies was reaffirmed” during this videoconference.
According to the French presidency, Westerners are determined to “strengthen their support for Ukraine in every way in the face of Russian aggression”, in particular through “new sanctions against Russia if it persists in the war”.
They also agreed on ‘the need to convince our partners, among countries outside the G7 and the EU, that this crisis threatens international peace and security and is not just a regional crisis or interesting than Westerners,” explained the Élysée, with particular reference to China.
For her part, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the participants discussed “their coordinated efforts to continue to inflict significant economic costs so that Russia is held accountable” for its actions.
This virtual meeting took place as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had started a major offensive on Monday in eastern Ukraine, a new strategic objective for Russian forces, after their withdrawal from the Kyiv region.
Part of this Ukrainian territory has already been in the hands of pro-Russian separatist forces since 2014.