As the fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, several ministers said on arriving at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 6 February – which dealt with Ukraine – that the sanctions against Russia would be maintained. The economic sanctions were extended at the end of December until 31 July 2017.
“The UK will insist that there is no reason to soften the sanctions”, the British foreign minister, Boris Johnson, stated, adding that it was important to continue putting pressure on Russia. The Spanish foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, had similar words, saying that when there is progress in implementing the Minsk agreements, “we will be able to re-examine the sanctions. In the meantime, no”. “The sanctions must be preserved (…) We do not see any reason to lift or review the sanctions”, Lithuania’s foreign ministers, Linas Linkevicius, said.
Like several of his counterparts, Linkevicius spoke of his concerns about the situation on the ground. In his view, the situation is very unpredictable and what happened in Avdiivka could happen again “anywhere anytime”. “We must ensure that the process of improvement is sustainable and irreversible”, he said.
Belgium’s foreign minister, Didier Reynders, said he would like the EU to engage still more with Ukraine. “It is important for the EU to play a role on both sides: to have a true ceasefire and the implementation of the Minsk agreements and to put pressure for the organisation of true reforms in Ukraine (…) It is possible to play a role in this process”, he said.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated that the EU was ready to accompany the work of the Normandy format and the OSCE (the presidency of which is currently held by Austria) still further. The previous day, she had met Ukraine’s deputy minister for European and Euro-atlantic integration, Ivanna Klympush, after talking to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, on 3 February (see other article). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)