Ukraine's Foreign Minister Names Kyiv's Expectations from New Sanctions Package

Monday, 23 January 2023

The tenth package of EU sanctions against Russia should include powerful sanctions against the Russian missile and drone industry, the closure of all ways of circumventing the already imposed sanctions, new personal sanctions, and sanctions against the energy, banking, media and telecommunications, metallurgy, etc.

"I urge you to introduce devastating sanctions against the Russian missile and drone industry. By destroying or severely limiting Russia's ability to produce new missiles and drones, we will 'kill' their ability to create new means of terror. We will also achieve the long-term strategic goal of deterring Russian missile terror," Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said during an online speech at the Council of Foreign Ministers of the EU on Monday, January 23.

The Minister has called for pressure on Russia to stop its war crimes. He pointed out that no exemptions or easing of sanctions are acceptable.

"It is very important to close all loopholes for circumventing sanctions. Our data indicate Russia's active attempts to circumvent restrictions. All this must be met with a strong rebuff," he said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs has also recalled Ukraine's call to lower the oil price caps as the actual price of Urals is already below $40 per barrel.

He also called for the disconnection of more Russian banks from SWIFT, primarily Gazprombank and Bank St. Petersburg, which are involved in financing the war.

Kuleba also insisted on closing Russia's access to cloud services and operations with cryptocurrency, introducing sanctions against Russian metallurgy.

A separate topic of the Ukrainian minister's speech was the need to end cooperation with Russia in the field of atomic energy and introduce sanctions against Rosatom.

Kuleba is convinced that the first step may be the introduction of personal sanctions against Rosatom employees and officials involved in the seizure and militarization of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

As reported, the Ministers of foreign affairs of the EU countries will discuss additional military assistance for Ukraine at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.

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