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Borrell says EU has no agreed position on ninth package of sanctions against Russia

EU foreign ministers will discuss new restrictive measures at the meeting.

Borrell says EU has no agreed position on ninth package of sanctions against Russia
Photo: rada.gov.ua

There are still differences in approaches to the European Commission's proposals to introduce the ninth package of sanctions against Russia. The discussion, which will take place on 12 December within the framework of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, may be tense, Ukrinform quotes the High Representative of the bloc Josep Borrell.

The EU chief diplomat noted that Iran was also on the agenda of the ministerial meeting.

“This Council is going to be very long and difficult because we have on the agenda Iran, we have on the agenda sanctions against Russia – the ninth package. We are still not there,” he said.

Borrell mentioned that the announcement of sanctions by the European Commission or him is only a proposal, and the decision is made by the European Union's Council.

"So at the moment 27 ministers have different approaches to this. Our proposals are not yet a decision, they have to be discussed. I thought that this morning, we would be able to say “greenlighted”, it is still not the case. Probably it will happen at the end of the day or tomorrow, but there are still issues to be agreed," he said.

In the ninth package of sanctions, the European Union plans to expand the list of persons subject to restrictive measures by almost 200 positions. There are plans to impose sanctions against three banks and restrictions on dual-use goods, including drones. The EU wants to ban Russia's direct export of engines for UAVs and exports to any third countries, such as Iran, that could supply it [Russia- ed.] with drones.

According to the Financial Times, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban opposed the introduction of the ninth package of sanctions against Russia.

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