“The European Union, as well as other partner states of Ukraine, have not exhausted the tools for economic pressure on Russia, and there are those decisions that do not require unanimity.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Andrii Sybiga, photo: Facebook Source: Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiga in Brussels in comments to a correspondent “European truth”
Details: Sybiga, who participated in the Ukraine-NATO Council (RUN) on the sidelines of the Alliance’s ministerial meeting, said that part of the RUN was devoted to ways of increasing pressure on the Russian aggressor, as these are “steps that can bring a just peace closer.”
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Among other things, he emphasized the need to synchronize sanctions pressure from different countries.
“It is important that we are all in the same sanctions space: Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, the USA. Now some have sanctioned about 600 tankers of the so-called shadow fleet, and others – conditionally, 150. This means that there are gaps that the Russian aggressor uses,” he explained.
Sybiga also reported on the assessment of the state of the economy of the Russian Federation, which is under the influence of sanctions.
“Our assessment is that the Russian economy will stagnate next year, with a further transition into recession. Therefore, we need to increase this pressure – both with new sanctions packages and (customs) tariffs,” he emphasized.
According to the minister, customs pressure is a tool that is not yet used by the European Union, although it will have an economic impact, as currently, according to his information, “some countries of the European Union continue to import goods from Russia.”
“For the application of tariffs or tariff policy, which will limit such turnover, unanimity is not required in the EU. Therefore, it is important that we also use this toolkit,” the minister said.
As you know, sanctions decisions require considerable effort, as they are often blocked or slowed down by Hungary.
Sibiga did not name any country in the context of the idea of customs pressure, and also avoided mentioning Hungary in the context of unanimity, but emphasized that “there are a number of countries that support it.”
In addition, the minister emphasized the need to find a way to use the frozen assets of the Russian Federation to finance Ukraine’s needs.
Earlier it was also reported that The EU will blacklist Russia for money laundering.
Meanwhile, Hungary plans to challenge the ban on the import of energy carriers from Russia in court.
The decision to ban the import of oil, gas and coal from the Russian Federation should be made in the near future, because The EU still pays the Russian Federation 1.5 billion euros for them every month.