UPDATE - EU's 10th sanctions package against Russia 'on its way'

ADDS FURTHER REMARKS FROM VON DER LEYEN, UPDATES WITH CHARLES MICHEL'S REMARKS, JOINT STATEMENT

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ISTANBUL (AA) - The head of the European Commission on Friday announced that the EU was working on a 10th sanctions package against Russia.

"The 10th package is on its way. We have the aim to have it in place by the 24th of February," Ursula von der Leyen said in a recorded joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zeleskyy and European Council President Charles Michel, following a summit between the two sides.

Stressing that the Russian economy was already "paying a high price" for the war in Ukraine thanks to the sanctions that the EU has already imposed on Moscow, von der Leyen said the new package, planned to go into force on Feb. 24, exactly a year after the war began, had a volume of around €10 billion ($10.8 billion).

"It's a massive package again," she said. "The plan is to focus once more on technology that can and should not be used by Russia's war machine. In other words, we look deeper into components that were found, for example, in drones to make sure that there's zero availability for Russia of these technologies or the drones' production, for example in Iran, that we are following up closely."

- Ukraine's accession to EU

Von der Leyen said they also discussed Ukraine's accession to the EU during the summit, adding that Kyiv is "taking important steps with all the reforms forward to meet the recommendations."

"And we should not forget you (Ukraine) are doing this while you are fighting against an aggressor. We will continue to support you on every single step," she said.

She said the details of the accession path were discussed and said that Ukraine's progress will be reflected in EU's enlargement report which is due in autumn for the member states.

For his part, European Council President Charles Michel said the future of Ukraine "is within the European Union."

"Ukrainian people have made a clear choice for freedom for democracy and rule of law. And we also made a clear decision, your future is with us, in our common European Union. Your destiny is our destiny," Michel said.

Underlining that EU's support to Kyiv has been "rock solid since day one," he said EU is determined to help Ukraine "win on the battlefield" as well.

- Joint Statement

After the EU-Ukraine summit, von der Leyen, Michel and Zelenksyy issued a joint statement about the topics they agreed on.

Displaced Ukrainians who are seeking refuge in the EU will continue to be protected as foreseen under the Temporary Protection Directive "until at least March 2024," the statement said, noting that some eight million Ukrainians have been provided shelter in the EU since the beginning of the war.

Overall pledged assistance from EU and member states to Ukraine amounts to nearly €50 billion, it said.

Ukraine welcomed the EU's commitment to continue providing support, including military assistance of more than €3.6 billion under the European Peace Facility, and the launch of the EU Military Assistance Mission to train an initial 30,000 soldiers in 2023.

On the investigation of war crimes, the statement said that Ukraine emphasized its preference for establishing a Special Tribunal.

The EU supports "the development of an international centre for the prosecution of the crime of aggression in Ukraine (ICPA) in The Hague," the statement added.

"This centre would be linked to the existing Joint Investigation Team supported by Eurojust," it added.