Weapons, money, sanctions: EU foreign ministers on Monday reaffirmed their willingness to support Ukraine and increase pressure on Moscow despite the threat of a cut in Russian gas supplies.
“Some European leaders have said that the sanctions were a mistake, a mistake. I don’t think it’s a mistake, that’s what we have to do, and we will continue to do it, ”said the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, in response to criticism from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban .
“We are not in a normal period. We are in an era where the law of the jungle prevails”, underlined the head of diplomacy of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn, on his arrival for a meeting in Brussels with his counterparts from the EU. “Withdrawing the sanctions would be fatal. It is our credibility that is at stake,” he summed up.
Viktor Orban denounced the European sanctions on Friday, seeing it as “an error” because “they did not achieve their goal, and even had the opposite effect”. “The European economy has shot itself in the lungs and is asphyxiated,” he said in a speech.
“Sanctions work”, maintains on the contrary Josep Borrell. “They are hitting Vladimir Putin and his accomplices hard, and their effects on the Russian economy will increase further,” he argued in a blog post published this weekend.
“We need strategic patience until Russia ceases its aggression and Ukraine can fully recover its sovereignty,” he pleaded.
But European leaders are worried that public hostility to sanctions is growing as fuel, gas and electricity prices soar in Europe.
“Doubts about good faith”
The war waged by the Kremlin in Ukraine has repercussions for our citizens “faced with very high prices for raw materials and energy”, recognized the new Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib.
Moscow is blocking Ukrainian ports and has started to reduce its gas deliveries to EU countries, some of which such as Germany and Italy are very dependent on their Russian supplies.
“Russia is trying to demoralize us,” said Anna Lührmann, German Minister for European Affairs.
“We are preparing for all kinds of scenarios,” she said. Germany fears the closure of the Nordstream gas pipeline, through which passes a third of the 153 billion cubic meters of gas purchased annually by the EU. The gas pipeline is under maintenance.
Russia is also blocking the export of some 20 million tonnes of cereals by Ukraine and “burning the country’s crops”, lamented Jean Asselborn.
Turkey and the United Nations are negotiating an agreement between the two belligerents and a meeting is scheduled for this week in Istanbul.
The resumption of grain exports from Ukraine is a “matter of life or death” for tens of thousands of people, insisted Josep Borrell.
The head of European diplomacy said he had “hope” that an agreement would be concluded. But “we have doubts about Russia’s good faith,” admitted a senior European official.
In Brussels, European ministers pleaded on Monday to continue to support Ukraine economically, politically and with military means.
They must examine new measures presented Friday by the European Commission, including an embargo on gold purchases from Russia.
“We are going to discuss today how the effectiveness of sanctions and their implementation can be strengthened,” said Anna Lührmann.
Ministers are also called upon to decide on the release of a fifth installment of 500 million euros from the “European Peace Facility” to finance military equipment and arms supplied to Ukraine.
“Weapons deliveries must continue,” said Lithuanian Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.