As expected, the EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs were unable, on Monday 16 May, to agree on the sixth package of sanctions, which includes an embargo on Russian oil.
“It was not possible to reach an agreement, but it was not even on the agenda, because we knew it would not be possible”, summarised the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, at the end of the EU Council. He said that discussions would continue at the level of the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU.
The High Representative also warned that the EU would continue to impose sanctions to ensure that the invasion of Ukraine would have an “unsustainable cost for the Kremlin”.
Hungary, heavily dependent on Russian oil, is still preventing an agreement. According to Mr Borrell, during the meeting, the Hungarian minister, Péter Szijjártó, explained the situation in economic, not political, terms, saying that it was a question of time and costs for the adaptation of the Hungarian system. Speaking to the media, Mr Szijjártó said it would cost his country €15-18 billion to upgrade its energy infrastructure to move away from Russian oil.
The Hungarian blockade was openly criticised by Lithuania’s minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis. “The whole Union is being held hostage by one Member State who cannot help us find a consensus”, he denounced. According to the minister, a solution to the sanctions issue could be to help Ukraine decouple from Russian gas and oil, as Hungary benefits from Russian energy via Ukraine. “If the traffic is cut off from Ukraine, the issue of sanctions will be resolved”, he added.
“We must send a clear signal to Moscow that the cost of continuing the war will continue to rise. The sooner the EU can adopt the 6th package, the better”, stressed Irish Minister Simon Coveney, while acknowledging that for some countries the decision was more difficult.
Other ministers were more conciliatory, as was the Spaniard, José Manuel Albares Bueno, who acknowledged that a balance had to be struck between removing what could finance the war and what could destabilise European Member states dependent on Russian energy.
Invited to a discussion with his EU counterparts, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pleaded for the adoption of the sanctions package, recalling that every day the EU was giving millions of euros for Russian energy and that this was financing the war. “The EU pays twice: first by supporting Ukraine and then by paying Russia and then it has to again pay for the destruction brought on Ukrainian soil by Russian weapons. This is not how it should work. Sanctioning Russian gas and oil is in the best interest of Europe, not just Ukraine”, he justified. He said that once the 6th package is adopted, the 7th should “kill Russian exports”.
Additional military support
The European ministers also reiterated the EU’s support for Ukraine, whether in humanitarian, financial or military terms. They agreed to the disbursement of a new assistance of €500 million from the European Peace Facility. “We have now reached €2 billion”, said Mr Borrell, who recalled that this was “the tip of the iceberg”, adding that the Member States were doing a lot individually.
The ministers and their Ukrainian counterpart also discussed food security, with Mr Kuleba explaining that there was strong support for finding alternative routes for Ukrainian food products to reach world markets. “The task is not easy, it is extremely complicated, but we are working on it”, he said.
“We need to help Ukraine to continue producing and exporting seed”, Mr Borrell said, adding that silos needed to be emptied and refilled with the next harvest.
The Romanian minister, Bogdan Aurescu, explained that his country was supporting the Ukrainian economy by transporting Ukrainian seeds and other Ukrainian products through its ports. “More than 120,000 tonnes of seeds from Ukraine have left the port of Constanța for other destinations”, he explained, adding that it was very important to fight a food crisis.
Support for candidate status
Several ministers have also publicly called for Ukraine to be granted candidate status as soon as possible. “Politically, there is no obstacle”, said the Slovak minister, Ivan Korčok.
Mr Kuleba explained that when he met with his counterparts, no country had openly opposed candidate status for his country. “There is not a single argument in favour of this not happening”, he added, recalling that there had never been such a strong public support before, either in Ukraine or in the Member States, for Ukraine’s integration.
NATO and G7 reaffirm their support for Kyiv
The day before, at the end of the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated the Allies’ support for Ukraine. “We must continue to intensify and maintain our military support for Ukraine and build on the work of the Support Group for Ukraine, which recently met in Ramstein”, he said. “We agree concerning our national efforts, we must not tire of them and we will not let them go. Ukraine needs this support to be able to defend itself”, the German minister, Annalena Baerbock, added.
According to Mr Stoltenberg, “Ukraine can win the war”. He recalled that Russia’s war in Ukraine was not going as Moscow had planned. “They failed to take Kyiv. They are pulling back from around Kharkiv, their major offensive in the Donbas has stalled. Russia is not achieving its strategic objectives”, Mr Stoltenberg said.
On Saturday, the G7 foreign ministers also reiterated their support for Ukraine in a statement, pledging continued substantial financial and economic support to strengthen the resilience of its economy and reaffirming their commitment to support the country’s reconstruction. “We will continue our military and defence assistance to Ukraine as long as necessary”, they also warned.
At a time when global markets are suffering from war, the G7 expressed its determination to provide additional resources and to support all relevant efforts to ensure the availability and accessibility of food, energy and financial resources and commodities for all. The G7 also called on Russia to immediately stop its attacks on Ukraine’s main transport infrastructure, including ports, so that they can be used for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.
The ministers reaffirmed as well their determination to further increase economic and political pressure on Russia, encouraging other countries to follow suit. They also promised to accelerate their efforts to reduce and end dependence on Russian energy supplies as soon as possible.
Furthermore, they warned that they would never recognise the borders that Russia had tried to change through military aggression.
Finally, condemning in the strongest possible terms the attacks on civilians, the G7 explained that it would continue to support ongoing investigations into violations of international law. “We are committed to providing investigative support, technical expertise, funding and other assistance to work towards ensuring the accountability of those who are responsible for the atrocities and crimes committed in Ukraine”, the ministers warned.
See the G7 statement: https://aeur.eu/f/1nu (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)