“EU ministers approved sanctions against Iran for supplying Russia with ballistic missiles – dpa EU foreign ministers approved sanctions against Iran for supplying Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. The decision was confirmed by dpa diplomats.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
“EU sanctions are aimed at companies and individuals participating in Iran’s ballistic missile program and the supply of these and other weapons to Russia,” the publication writes.
The EU, as noted, previously warned Iran several times about the inadmissibility of transferring ballistic missiles to Moscow and considers this step a violation of a new taboo.
Iran categorically denies supplying Russia with weapons. According to Tehran, the country has strategic cooperation with Moscow, although this is not related to the war in Ukraine, the publication writes.
“One of the targets is the Iranian state-owned airline Iran Air. Great Britain, Germany and France have already announced that they are working on sanctions against the company,” the publication indicates.
EU sanctions, including a freeze on assets held in the bloc and a travel ban on individuals, will come into effect after they are published in the EU’s Official Journal, the newspaper said.
EU foreign ministers are meeting to discuss the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and the EU’s efforts to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion, despite Hungary’s resistance, the newspaper reports.
The bloc is also said to be planning to impose new sanctions on Russian figures and organizations accused of destabilizing Moldova’s democracy and security ahead of a critical EU membership referendum later this month.
The role of Iran and its regional proxies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, among others, will also be in focus at a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg. The EU is scrambling to find an answer that would help stop the conflict from escalating into a full-scale regional war in the Middle East.
Another important problem is Hungary’s one-and-a-half-year blockade of the EU’s key tool for providing military aid to Ukraine – the European Peace Fund (EPF) for 6.6 billion euros (7.2 billion US dollars).
The EU will discuss the unblocking of European Peace Fund payments for Ukraine – BorrellOctober 14, 2024, 08:09 • 7295 views
“Budapest does not want to supply weapons to Ukraine, believing that this will only prolong the war,” the publication writes.
“Frankly, it’s a lot of time, it’s a lot of money, and it undermines our political will to support Ukraine on any front,” said an EU official in a sign of the EU’s growing impatience with Hungary.
The bloc’s diplomatic arm, the European External Action Service, has drawn up a plan to make contributions to the EPF voluntary rather than mandatory, as a technical workaround to counter Hungary, the paper said.
“The EU diplomat said that Hungary has demonstrated its readiness to agree to this decision,” the newspaper writes.
As noted, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiga, spoke with the ministers of foreign affairs of the EU via video link. Borrell hailed his contribution to the X post and promised new arms supplies to Ukraine.
British Foreign Minister David Lammy is also in Luxembourg. This, as the publication notes, is the first time the British foreign minister has attended a meeting of EU foreign ministers alone after Britain left the EU in 2020.
For the first time in 2 years: the head of the British Foreign Ministry will join EU ministers for talks on the Middle East and UkraineOctober 14, 2024, 05:52 • 12902 views