EU High Representative Josep Borrell and French President Emmanuel Macron. (AFP / LUDOVIC MARIN)
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Discussions are underway among Westerners about new sanctions against Russia which would be announced as early as this week.
The abuses in Boutcha, Ukraine, have moved people around the world. On Monday, April 4, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced that the United States and its allies want
announce “this week”
new economic sanctions against Russia, while Ukraine will receive more military assistance. And this while, according to him, Russia has changed its military strategy and will now “concentrate its offensive” in particular on eastern Ukraine.
The senior adviser to the American president indicated that the discussions among Westerners at the moment relate in particular to possible measures
“related to energy”,
very sensitive subject for Europeans, who are very dependent on Russian gas. Jake Sullivan insisted on the search for “consensus” with the European Union, which for its part
discuss in “emergency”
new sanctions against Moscow.
He also promised “further announcements
additional military assistance
in the coming days” for Ukraine, without further details, noting that the equipment intended for the Ukrainian army could come from the United States itself or be sent from other countries.
Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor also assured that Russia “is in the process of repositioning its forces to focus its offensive on eastern and parts of southern Ukraine”.
“Russia tried to subjugate all of Ukraine and failed,”
he judged, believing that this new phase of the Russian military offensive “could last for months or more”.
Jake Sullivan, however, clarified that, according to Washington,
“Moscow will continue the airstrikes
and the firing of missiles at the rest of the country to cause military and economic damage and also, clearly, to sow terror”. Like US President Joe Biden a few hours ago, he called for
investigate “war crimes”
from Russia to Ukraine.
He said the International Criminal Court – of which the United States is not a member – was “one of the places” where war crimes had been tried but said that there were also “other mechanisms.”
Jake Sullivan also said: “We have seen atrocities, we have seen war crimes, we have not seen so far a level of attack on the life of the Ukrainian people that reaches
the level of genocide.
But it’s something we continue to monitor.”
EU wants new ‘Wednesday or Thursday’ sanctions package
For its part, the European Union
urgently discussing new sanctions
against Moscow, demanded in particular by Paris and Berlin, according to the high representative of the EU Josep Borrell on Monday. “There is intense work going on on sanctions with the hope of having a new package adopted on Wednesday or Thursday” during a meeting of member states’ ambassadors in Brussels, a European diplomat said.
The unanimity of the Twenty-Seven is necessary for the adoption of new measures. If a consensus is found during the meeting of ambassadors, it must then be validated by the capitals. A meeting of EU foreign ministers is
scheduled for Monday, April 11
in Luxembourg and an extraordinary European summit devoted to the conflict in Ukraine, the economic situation and European Defense is
planned “end of May-beginning of June”,
indicated the services of Josep Borrell.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday spoke of individual sanctions and
measures on “coal and oil”,
but he did not mention the purchases of gas, a subject of division between Europeans. Germany and Austria on Monday ruled out sanctions against the Russian gas sector. “From the beginning, the President has used all available instruments to get President Putin to end the war: massive sanctions, support for Ukraine, demands presented directly to President Putin during their appeals. It is important that
Putin knows our demands
and what it costs not to respond to it”, explained the Elysée on Monday.
“Our determination is total
to sanction the exactions of this war (…) We are for a new series of sanctions including the embargo on oil and coal. This is decided at European level and will be discussed in Brussels during Wednesday’s Coreper (Committee of Permanent Representatives), “said the Elysée.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian forces of having
killed civilians in Boutcha,
but the Kremlin denied responsibility and claimed the images were fabricated by kyiv.
This Tuesday, April 5 on
RFI
the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, recalled
the need for “dialogue” with Russia.
“It is not because we discuss with Mr. (Vladimir) Putin that we have the slightest illusion about Mr. Putin, that we release him from any responsibility in the face of these horrors”, he specified. . “France’s responsibility, particularly in the presidency of the European Union (…) is to
seize this slim hope of dialogue”,
continued Clément Beaune.
“Our policy towards Russia is
first the penalties,
first firmness, first solidarity also with Ukraine, but besides all that, without any naivety, without any complacency “we must seize” every chance (…) to build for the future, as soon as possible, a ceasefire and perhaps peace,” he added.
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