The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, insisted, on Friday 4 March, on the implementation of sanctions already adopted, while the G7, also meeting on Friday, warned that it would continue to impose tough additional sanctions in response to the Russian invasion.
“We have a far-reaching package of sanctions. We must ensure that they are fully implemented”, he said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers with their US, Canadian and British counterparts and the NATO secretary general (see other news). He added that the sanctions were already having their first effects.
“We must convert what has been decided into concrete consequences”, for example by seizing the property of those sanctioned, he explained.
According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, some 40 countries are partially or fully implementing the sanctions decided in collaboration with the G7.
Mr Borrell recalled that the aim was to “undermine the Russian war machine”. “Sanctions will not bring about regime change in Russia. The aim is to weaken Russia’s economy (...) and to strengthen the position of Ukrainians vis-a-vis the negotiations”, he explained.
While no decisions were taken at the ministerial meeting, the High Representative said that the EU was continuing to make progress on the preparation of additional measures, if necessary. In particular, he explained that the EU could expand the number of Russian banks that can be excluded from Swift, indicating that the EU Council’s technical bodies are working on this proposal. “We can go further with financial sanctions”, he warned. Asked about sanctions on Russian ships’ access to European ports or energy, Mr Borrell said the ministers had cited these options.
Call for an end to the fighting and for humanitarian access
Beyond the sanctions, the High Representative returned to the situation in Ukraine, having been briefed by the Ukrainian Minister Dmytro Kuleba. “The situation is becoming more and more difficult because of the Russian bombing of the presidential residence, schools, hospitals, civilian infrastructure. It looks like they want to destroy Ukraine”, he warned, calling for an immediate halt to the Russian military operation and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
Mr Borrell also denounced the Russian attack near the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant as “unacceptable” as it could have “catastrophic” consequences, both from an ecological and humanitarian point of view for the whole of Europe, he said. “Any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of international law”, the G7 said in a statement.
The High Representative also called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors so that the Ukrainian population can be assisted. “The population needs food, basic products”, he explained, while several cities in the country are under threat of a siege by the Russian army.
G7 members called on Russia to fulfil its obligation to fully respect international humanitarian law and human rights. “Ukrainian and UN humanitarian agencies, medical personnel, and non-governmental assistance providers must be given safe, rapid and unimpeded access to people in need immediately throughout the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders”, they stressed, while pledging to increase their humanitarian assistance.
Mr Borrell also announced that the EU would provide access to its territory to anyone fleeing Ukraine and that the ministers had asked the European Commission to mobilise additional funds to help countries on the front line. More than a million Ukrainians have already fled their country and the numbers are growing.
See the G7 press release: https://aeur.eu/f/mf (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)