EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said on Thursday 19 January that the United States would not decide on EU sanctions against Russia. The US president, Donald Trump, is reported to be planning to lift US sanctions against Moscow.
At a conference in Davos on refining the EU security agenda, Mogherini said, in answer to a question about the future of EU sanctions when Donald Trump comes to power in the White House, that the EU’s decisions were taken in Brussels, not Washington, or somewhere else where the 28 European states meet up, 27 in the future. The US and the EU worked together on sanctions against Russia.
The High Representative said that the EU’s decision on sanctions against Russia over annexation of Crimea or attacks in Eastern Ukraine would certainly still be based on merit in terms of full implementation of the Minsk agreements (for sanctions relating to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine). She added that a decision had not been taken.
Although Russia ‘and others’ had hoped that Europe would not be able to unite to issue sanctions, and that they would then lose their unity, Mogherini said that the EU was still united and would continue to be united on this question.
On 20 December 2016, the EU prolonged EU economic sanctions against Russia until 31 July 2017. (Original version in French Camille-Cerise Gessant)