The Swedish Presidency is “ready” to bring another package of sanctions against Russia to the table of the Council of the European Union, said the Minister for EU Affairs Jessika Roswall on Friday 31 March in a briefing to some journalists, including EUROPE.
“Whenever we’ve agreed on a new sanctions’ package, the question has been that the next round of sanctions will come and why certain sectors are not covered. This is understandable”, noted Ms Roswall. She did not say whether the package would include restrictions on trade, including trade in diamonds or Russian oil products.
The sitting President of the General Affairs Council described the first ten sanctions packages as a “great success” in terms of European unity, the last of which was agreed under the Swedish Presidency (see EUROPE 13130/14). “However I believe that the most important thing right now is to ensure that the sanctions are implemented and effective”, she added, assuring that the Swedish Presidency is working hard to reach an agreement in the EU Council on the proposal to harmonise the definitions of criminal offences and penalties for breaches of EU sanctions (see EUROPE 13139/7).
Ms Roswall also spoke of the work to mobilise Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine despite the legal difficulties involved in this action. Nevertheless, “the signal is very clear: Russia will pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine”, she said. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)