EU foreign ministers to discuss new steps supporting Ukraine

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – The EU foreign ministers are set to discuss on Monday the bloc’s response to the war in Ukraine and the latest developments in the conflict zones of the Middle East at their meeting in Luxembourg.

“We are going to discuss how we can support better the Ukrainian people, and how we can support the International Criminal Court’s investigation” into alleged war crimes committed in the country, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on the way to the meeting.

He said that during their visit last week to Ukraine with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, they had witnessed “brutal, brutal aggression of Russian troops against the civilian population.”

Ahead of the ministerial meeting, Dutch top diplomat Wopke Hoekstra hosted a working breakfast with the participation of his EU counterparts and Ukrainian prosecutor Iryna Venediktova who joined by a video link to discuss how to hold accountable those committing these crimes.

“Member states are truly committed to making sure justice is being done given the horrible images and clear crimes that we have all seen on television, that are truly appalling,” Hoekstra told reporters after the working breakfast.

The International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor-General Karim Khan will also join the ministers for a part of the main discussion.

- Further sanctions, military aid

The EU foreign ministers will also assess options on continuing with sanctions against Russia.

However, a decision is not expected at the meeting because member states remain deeply divided on introducing an embargo on Russian energy imports.

The ministers will also discuss further military aid of lethal weapons to Ukraine following Borrell’s proposal on adding another €500 million (about $544 million) support to the already allocated €1 billion (about $1.09 billion).

“I am afraid that the war will increase in the next days in Donbas,” Borrell warned.

The top diplomats will also discuss the situation in other conflict zones, such as Libya, Mali, and Yemen, as well as the bloc’s development aid and investment plans across the globe.

“Everybody has to face the consequences of this war,” Borrell said, hinting at the worldwide consequences of rising energy and food prices.

The EU has imposed five sets of sanctions on Moscow since the beginning of the war on Feb. 24.

The restrictive measures targeted 1002 individuals and 32 entities in total, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarchs, and military officers.

The EU has also banned coal imports and luxury goods exports to Russia, as well as barring Russian and Belarusian banks from operating in the SWIFT international banking system.