A very unproductive meeting of the European Council of Foreign Ministers was held yesterday in which Hungary vetoed both the 20th sanctions package against Russia and the €90 billion loan to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukraine is bridging its financing gaps via IMF loans, bilateral aid and public credit.
In her comments during the press conference, the EU High Representative Kaja Kallas hinted that the approval of the loan to Ukraine will have to wait a potential change in government after elections in Hungary are held in April. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Antonio Costa will meet with President Zelensky in Kyiv later today and they will also bring up the issue with President Orban.
The EU High Representative has also confirmed that she circulated a document with EU Member States regarding concessions that Russia needs to make in the event of a peace deal: one of these concessions include that Russia has to fulfill existing international treaties and withdraw all its troops from ex-Soviet Union countries including Moldova and Georgia. She also said that the EU is working on a visa ban to Russian servicemen and troops who participated in the war in Ukraine.
Vice-Commissioner Kallas also confirmed that Spain is proposing to lift sanctions off Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez and she also said that this proposal will be brought to the Council.
Full press conference text can be found here.
Newsroom
Leave a Reply