EU discusses possible sanctions against Russia in case of aggression against Ukraine

EU discusses possible sanctions against Russia in case of aggression against Ukraine

European leaders discussed this Thursday for an hour in Brussels on possible sanctions against Russia in case of aggression against Ukrainein a hastily convened meeting ahead of a summit with their African counterparts.

The meeting was basically a session of update of information and coordination of positionswithout any intention of defining a decision, but the leaders made it clear that the European Union (EU) is prepared to announce eventual sanctions.

Before that meeting, the president of the European Council, the Belgian Charles Michel, reported on Twitter that he had maintained a telephone contact with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Michel noted that in that contact he reiterated the EU’s “solidarity” with Ukraine, adding that “a de-escalation is urgently needed.”

Meanwhile, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, participated in the meeting to present to the leaders a summary of the possible sanctions to be applied to Russia in the event of an aggression against Ukraine.

At the end of the meeting, several leaders stressed that the EU was ready to act quickly.

“The important thing is that, in case of invasion [rusa a Ucrania], The West is prepared to respond in a necessary and forceful way so that it is seen that another country cannot be invaded without great cost.”, said the prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen.

In turn, Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland, said there was still hope that a diplomatic solution would prevail. “But, of course, at the same time we are preparing very tough, very massive sanctions,” he said.

The European Union has decided to take with extreme caution the affirmations of official Russian officials about a gradual withdrawal of the troops that it had accumulated along the border with Ukraine.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that EU countries should “hold fast to the deterrence strategy, and show no weakness”.

A spokesman for the EU’s diplomatic division, Peter Stano, told reporters that the European Commission was still working on possible sanctions.

“Before anything happens, we can’t discuss the sanctions because we will only be speculating about the possible crime that we are going to react to,” he said. (I)

Source: Eluniverso

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