Washington and Brussels apply additional pressure on Moscow

The US and the European Union are imposing new sanctions on Russia. After the canceled meeting in Budapest, Donald Trump decided to impose sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft. Meanwhile, in its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, the European Union has completely banned the import of Russian liquefied gas until 2027.

European leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday for a summit of the European Council. Addressing reporters the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, outlined the details of the EU's 19th package of sanctions against Moscow but also plans to continue to arm Ukraine: "This morning we approved the 19th package of sanctions, targeting the Russian shadow fleet, banking and energy sectors. And today, in this European Council, we will take a political decision on ensuring Ukraine's financial needs for 2026 and 2027, including the purchase of military equipment."

For her part European Commission Vice-President and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, addressed the European Commission’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets in Europe as a so-called "reparations loan" to Ukraine. According to the plan the EU would use some €140 billion from blocked Russian central bank accounts to help Kiev cover a large part of its financial needs over the next two years: "Russia is responsible for the damages caused in Ukraine and has to pay for those damages. The frozen assets we have and the reparations loan are on the basis of that so that Ukraine can defend itself. It sends three very important signals. One is to Ukraine, that we are supporting them to defend themselves. The other one is to Russia, that they cannot outlast us. And the third one is to America, to show that we are taking very important steps ourselves."

However, given that the Russian assets are situated in Belgium in Euroclear accounts, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever made a point of drawing a distinction between Russia’s immobilized assets and frozen assets: "There is this idea of confiscating them and giving them to Ukraine. I'm looking for the legal basis for this decision. This is not a detail. Even during the Second World War immobilized assets were never touched. So this is a very important step if we would like to take it. (...) We in Belgium have three demands. I want a full mutualization of the risk, because there is a big risk we will suffer from enormous claims. So, if we want to do this, we will have to do this all together. We want guarantees if the money has to be paid back that every member state will chip-in, the consequences cannot only be for Belgium. And the third demand is that every country that has immobilized assets, moves together with us."

Representing Croatian in Brussels was Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who noted that political pressure from both Washington and Brussels is mounting: "The pressure is growing. It is the common goal of the US and EU to stop the Russian aggression on Ukraine that has brought so much sorrow, destruction, death and difficulty for the Ukrainian people, but for Europe and the rest of the world as well. This is why that pressure through sanctions packages is growing. Obviously, we knew that this step would be taken, and at the end of the day, we have a certain effect with regard to these sanctions. The fact is that Russia has majority ownership in Serbia's oil industry, and as a result of the sanctions Croatia's JANAF crude oil transportation company cannot deliver crude oil to Serbia. So the pressure is here. Whether or not this is a unique moment I cannot say, because unfortunately the war has been going for four years now, and it isn't unrealistic for more of these moments to happen."

Meanwhile, commenting on the 19th package of European sanctions, Moscow said that Russia's response will be painful should the European Union steal Russian assets in Euroclear accounts. Moscow says the Union has no legal basis to seize Russian assets, and that any attempt to do so would amount to little more than plain theft. The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zaharova: "We have repeatedly commented on the ineffectiveness of the EU's unilateral restrictions, and the inability of the current elites to recognize the obvious fact that the sanctions they impose on Russia do not work. In fact, the sanctions they impose on Russia work primarily against the European Union."

Source: HRT