The European Union has almost depleted its capacity for sanctions against Russia, and now the bloc's attention should be focused on financial and military support for Ukraine, EU diplomat Josep Borrell said in an interview with Euractiv, according to the European Pravda.
“There is not much more to do from the point of view of sanctions, but we can continue to increase financial and military support,” Borrell said.
Over the past year, the EU has approved 10 rounds of sanctions against Moscow meant to make financing the war more difficult and starve Russia of tech equipment and spare parts for arms to be used against Ukraine.
“It would be strange that one year after the invasion began, there would be much more options left. We have been using our step-by-step process, and we have been incremental – maybe sometimes too incremental…But indeed, one year after the invasion, we’re getting to the end of the ladder,” he noted.
“The answer is always the same – to continue supporting Ukraine. Ukraine needs a lot of money just to keep the machinery working, a state at war has a lot of financial needs – this will require a lot of effort from our side – so sanctions and military support are not everything,” he added.
Borrell emphasized battlefield operations were “up to Ukraine to decide” but Europe’s responsibility is to support it, also by providing arms and ammunition.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the European Union not to ease sanctions against Russia and to prepare the 11th package.