The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, confirmed on Monday 18 February that Europeans would very soon adopt new sanctions in connection with the arrest of 24 Ukrainian sailors in the Azov Sea in November and that the services would work on additional support for the region, which was economically affected by the closure of the Kerch Strait.
At the end of the Council, Ms Mogherini confirmed that there was "a political consensus that some additional measures should be taken". "The legal acts will be finalised in the coming days", she added. Eight Russians should be punished for their involvement in the arrest of the sailors.
During their discussion, the ministers of the Twenty-eight also identified areas where the EU could provide additional support "in particular to the areas of the Azov Sea region following a European Union visit to the region", the High Representative announced. She mentioned in particular "rail and road connections in the region, training centres in some Ukrainian cities around the Azov Sea and support for small and medium-sized enterprises".
Earlier today, at the end of a 'Friends of Ukraine' breakfast with the ministers of the Twenty-eight, Ukrainian Minister Pavlo Klimkin called for EU assistance, saying Russia was trying to "suffocate" the Ukrainian Donbass. According to him, since the beginning of the war, tonnage in the port of Marioupol has risen from 18 billion tonnes to 5.6 billion and cargo ships from 15 to 2 or 3. "We need infrastructure to be further developed: roads, railways", he explained to a small group of journalists, including EUROPE, also highlighting the need to develop human capital. "The economic model must be redesigned (reshuffle)", he said.
The EU has already pledged €50 million to support the region and is expected to provide additional support and loans, including through the EIB and EBRD.
However, beyond this assistance, the Minister would like the Europeans to make a joint declaration on freedom of navigation, stating that some Member States were still "afraid" to adopt such a declaration, without explaining why. According to Mr Klimkin, such a declaration "will strengthen the EU's policy towards Russia". The Minister also called for an increase in security infrastructure along the coast, but said that this was less relevant to the EU.
When asked about the upcoming elections in Ukraine, the High Representative hoped that they would be "free and fair" and that OSCE standards would be fully respected. Europeans have criticised Kiev's ban on Russian observers. A decision justified by Mr Klimkin. "There are two important dimensions: political and emotional", he explained.
The minister said that Russia was trying to interfere in the elections. According to him, "a pro-Russian reality is now out of the question in Ukraine". But the Kremlin, in order to have influence, is counting on both the attempt to bring the country to such a level of destabilisation that Ukraine can be presented as a failed state and the possibility of putting forward people it can manipulate. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)