EU preparing new Russia sanctions – Kallas
The EU is set to begin working on a new, 19th package of sanctions against Russia, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said. She also warned against any “concessions” to Moscow in peace talks on the Ukraine conflict.
Kallas made the remarks on Monday after a hastily convened meeting of member states’ foreign ministers ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Friday in Alaska.
“As far as Russia has not agreed to a full and unconditional ceasefire, we should not even discuss any concessions,” Kallas said in a statement, as she called for “transatlantic unity.”
“The sequencing of the steps is important. First, an unconditional ceasefire with a strong monitoring system and ironclad security guarantees,” she stressed, adding that the EU “will work on a 19th package of sanctions.”
The announcement by the former Estonian prime minister, known for her hawkish stance against Russia, comes less than a month after the EU agreed on the 18th sanctions package against Moscow after weeks of back-and-forth between member states.
The restrictions were touted by Kallas as “one of its strongest sanctions packages against Russia,” and targeted the country’s banking and energy sector. The bloc also added another 105 vessels to a blacklist of what Brussels calls a “shadow fleet,” allegedly involved in transporting Russian oil to bypass the bloc’s restrictions.
The restrictions were condemned by Moscow, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that Russia had “repeatedly said that we consider such unilateral restrictions to be illegal.”
The country has already developed “a certain immunity” and adapted to functioning under the sanctions, Peskov added, noting that the unilateral curbs have proven to be a “double-edged sword,” which creates “a negative effect” not only for Moscow, but also for those who impose them.
