Russians must leave Brussels. Kallas: I decided to limit the mission

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday in Brussels that the EU must put more pressure on Russia. She announced that she had decided to limit the number of employees of the Russian mission to the EU to 40 people.

The politician emphasized that the EU does not intend to tolerate “abuse of diplomatic powers” by Russia. She also said that, together with the European Commission, she is working on a ban on the entry of former Russian soldiers to the Schengen area.

“We do not want war criminals and saboteurs roaming our streets,” Kallas said at a press conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The EU foreign policy chief also admitted that ministers failed to reach an agreement on Monday on the 20th package of sanctions against Russia.

– This is a failure and news that we did not want to convey today – she said. However, she added that work on the package is ongoing and talks are being held at “various levels” to convince Hungary and Slovakia to continue work.

– I very much regret that we were unable to reach an agreement today, considering that tomorrow is the sad (fourth – PAP) anniversary of the start of this war – she said.

Kallas announced that the EU intends to put more pressure on Russia, including better use of the European Investment Bank to finance cooperation in the field of defense industry. She recalled that due to Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, last year the EU doubled contributions to the Ukrainian Energy Support Fund to EUR 1.85 billion. She added that the EU is also tightening the net around the Russian shadow fleet, i.e. tankers secretly transporting Russian oil, and on Monday imposed sanctions on more people for human rights violations in Russia.

Kallas assessed that in the war against Ukraine, Moscow has not achieved any of its strategic goals, its army is stuck, the condition of its economy is rapidly deteriorating, and the Ukrainians are resisting and holding on tight.

She also emphasized that it is important for Europe how the war ends, and if the EU does not want its interests to be sidelined, it must clearly define its expectations towards Moscow. – Respect for borders, an end to sabotage, payment of war reparations and the return of kidnapped Ukrainian children are not far-reaching demands, but the basic ones. So before we start talks with Moscow, we should clearly define what we want to talk to it about, she said.

From Brussels Jowita Kiwnik Pargana (PAP)

jowi/ akl/