Brussels, April 7: The introduction of oil embargo on Russia will be on the agenda of the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on April 11, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday. “It (oil embargo) is not on the package of the 5th sanctions, which has been discussed today, it is only coal, but it will be discussed on Monday on foreign affairs ministers council, and, sooner or later, I hope sooner it will happen,” Borrell told reporters ahead of a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels.
Commenting on the fifth package of anti-Russian sanctions, the diplomat expressed the hope that it would be finally approved on Thursday, first by the permanent representatives, and then by the Foreign Affairs Council. Borrell also said that the EU adhered to “a progressive approach” while imposing sanctions on Russia, and now Brussels is increasing pressure, with the new package of sanctions almost finalised.
“We have been following a progressive approach, now we are accelerating… we didn’t want to do everything on the same moment just the first time, taking into account the situation on the ground but now the sanctions are almost completed,” Borrell said at a doorstep of the NATO foreign ministers council. NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs held the second and final session in Brussels, aiming to address the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. Prior to the meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO “need to be prepared for the long haul” in Ukraine, adding that support for Kyiv should be upheld, sanctions against Russia must be sustained, and NATO defence and deterrence strengthened.
It comes several days after reports emerged of mass civilian killings in Bucha, a town near Kyiv controlled until recently by the Russian forces. Kyiv blamed the civilian deaths on the departed Russian forces. However, Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia called the presented evidence a forgery and contended that radical Ukrainian forces have been committing abuses against civilians as well as prisoners of war.
UNI/SPUTNIK
