Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, whose country currently holds the EU Council Presidency, did not rule out the adoption of new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday 27 November due to tensions in the Sea of Azov. However, at the end of the meeting of the Ambassadors of the Political and Security Committee (PSC), no consensus was reached on this issue.
"On the issue of additional sanctions, this remains to be determined. We will soon have a joint Council in December,” she explained after a meeting with her German counterpart in Berlin, Heiko Mass. Foreign Ministers will meet on 10 December for a Council, and EU leaders will meet in a European Council on 13 and 14 December.
"Everything will depend... on the behaviour of the two belligerents. But it will have to be studied”, the minister added, adding that "it is currently the word of one against the word of the other".
Although new sanctions may be considered, there was no unanimity among Member States on this after the PSC. Targeted sanctions "are one of the options considered," a diplomatic source confirmed to EUROPE.
Some Member States, which are usually in favour or rather opposed to sanctions against Russia, have reportedly maintained their position. Other Member States - including those participating in the Normandy format - would consider it premature at this stage to take action. One national source considered that there was no need to rush, no need to overreact, at the risk of rekindling tensions, but that it was necessary to see how the situation evolved.
According to this national source, the Twenty-Eight should adopt a joint declaration, which should be close to the declaration issued on 26 November by eight EU Member States, current and former members of the UN Security Council (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK). The Twenty-Eight should therefore call for de-escalation, the release of Ukrainian ships and sailors and freedom of movement in the Sea of Azov. Europeans should also stress that they will be closely monitoring the situation.
For her part, the EEAS spokesperson said that ongoing contacts and exchanges of views included next steps.
When asked about the introduction of martial law in Ukraine for 30 days, the spokesperson was confident. "We understood [from statements] from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that martial law,” introduced in 10 regions of southern and eastern Ukraine, "would not unnecessarily limit civil rights,” she explained, adding that it was an ‘important point’. Ms Kocijancic specified that the EEAS would closely examine the text of martial law.
During a discussion in the EU-Ukraine Association Committee on 26 November, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU, Mykola Tochytskyi, said that this ‘open aggression’ against Ukraine was a ‘signal, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians, but for all, if Russia is not stopped’. "Putin will try again and again,” he says. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)