Portugal’s foreign minister said this Monday that “there have already been eight packages of sanctions and there will certainly be a new one” against Russia, for the invasion of Ukraine, to be negotiated in the European Union, with more individual and financial sanctions.
“Different countries have spoken [hoje] the opportunity to develop a new package and I believe that’s going to happen. There have already been eight packages and there will certainly be a new one, but that package has not crystallized yet, modalities that could be part of that package are still being discussed,” said the head of Portuguese diplomacy, João Gomes Cravinho.
In conversation with Portuguese journalists in Brussels at the end of a meeting of European Union (EU) foreign ministers, which admitted that a ninth package of sanctions had been imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, João Gomes Cravinho pointed out that it may involve “sanctions against more individuals and more entities, including banking sanctions against some entities that are still in the SWIFT system.” [relativo ao sistema internacional de instituições bancárias]🇧🇷
Despite stressing that “there is still room for more sanctions”, the official reminded that “sanctions must be adopted unanimously, that is to say by 27 countries” of the EU.
“Eight packages passed through the sieve of these 27 countries” and “of course there is concern about the impact of the war on the global economy, including a very important aspect, a recent advance directive from the president [russo, Vladimir] Putin, to use the grain used in the Black Sea as a weapon against those who do not support him in his war,” he continued.
According to João Gomes Cravinho, “there is now a bad climate due to the invasion of Ukraine, but there is also a great determination to continue”.
Recapture of Kherson “gives great encouragement” and “setbacks” for Russia do not end there
“The Ukrainian victory in Kherson gives much encouragement to these more positive perspectives on the path of war,” the official concluded.
João Gomes Cravinho pointed out that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had the opportunity to talk via video conference about the victory in Kherson, which was applauded by the 27.
“The recapture of Kherson shows that the war is currently moving in the desired direction, namely with the reconquest of illegally occupied Russian territories and I believe that on the one hand this will undermine the determination, courage and strength of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and on the other hand, that the support we are all giving, transatlantically and in Europe, is exactly the support Ukraine needs,” the minister began.
According to João Gomes Cravinho, the successes achieved by the Ukrainian army on the ground also reinforce the EU’s “great determination” to continue its support for Ukraine, reiterating that “the Ukrainian victory in Kherson is a great encouragement to those more positive perspectives on the path of war”, initiated over eight months by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On the day Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, visited Kherson, saying he believed the recapture of this city could mean “the beginning of the end of the war”, the head of Portuguese diplomacy said that, from the point of view of the EU, this victory actually has a “high value”.
“I don’t believe there are any preconditions for Russia to come to the negotiating table at the moment”
“Of course we consider the recapture of Kherson a moment of great importance. It should be remembered that Kherson was the only major military victory achieved by Russia in the first weeks of the war, and it is the capital of a district that Putin declared the a few weeks ago. And therefore the recapture of Kherson has a high symbolic value as well as a high strategic and military value,” he said.
“We believe that the setbacks for Russia will not stop here and that is why we look forward to this moment with great satisfaction and optimism,” he stressed.
As for the scenario in which the parties return to the negotiating table in search of an agreement for peace, João Gomes Cravinho believed that this will inevitably happen, but believed that the time has not yet come, not least because the EU agrees it’s over It is up to the Kiev authorities to decide on the terms under which they will negotiate with Moscow, and Minister Kuleba reiterated today that the terms have not yet been met.
“I do not believe that there are any preconditions for Russia to come to the negotiating table at the moment. When Russia withdraws from the territories it has unlawfully occupied, the circumstances will certainly be different. What the EU is saying is that Ukraine will decide on what time to negotiate with Russia. We know that wars always end with diplomacy, and this one will be no different. But it will have to be done on the terms that Ukraine chooses,” he said.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24 plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
News updated at 17:21
Source: DN
