The top European officials assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels on Thursday that the European Union will maintain pressure on the Kremlin on sanctions, ensuring that the next package will cover “Putin’s propagandists.”
In a joint press conference with Zelensky, after addressing the heads of state and government of the 27 members of the European Council, the president of the community executive, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the Commission “will propose in the coming days the tenth sanctions package” against Russia, adding that it would include an express request from the Ukrainian president.
“We will impose sanctions on the political and military leaders. But also, dear Volodymyr, we listened very carefully to your messages when we visited you last week in Kiev, and we will attack the propagandists of [Vladimir] Putin, because his lies are poisoning the public space in Russia and abroad. They insisted on that, we listened, we are going to follow them up and we are going to look for them, ”said Von der Leyen addressing Zelensky.
The president of the community executive, who had already expressed her intention that the tenth package of sanctions be ready when the first anniversary of the start of the war is celebrated on February 24, added that “the package will include additional prohibitions on exports worth more than 10 billion euros” and thus further undermine “Russia’s war machine” and continue to “shake the foundations of its economy”.
European Council President Charles Michel also assured Zelensky that “the European Union (EU) will not ‘tremble’ in its unity and will remain very determined in putting pressure on the Kremlin.” [Presidência russa]”.
Noting that “sanctions are on the agenda, the tenth package is being prepared”, Charles Michael said he was absolutely convinced that the 27 will once again give “a demonstration of coherence and determination”.
In his speech, Volodymyr Zelensky urged the EU to include the “drones industry [aeronaves não tripuladas] and missiles” in the sanctions against Russia, arguing that “it is in everyone’s interest, not just the Ukrainians, that Russia fails to produce more missiles” to attack cities.
After the press conference, the formal work of the European Council, whose agenda is very behind schedule, will be interrupted, foreseeably for two hours, during which Zelensky will hold a round of bilateral meetings with the leaders of the 27, by groups, in the absence of time for individual meetings.
Source: TSF
