Borrell expects 10th round of sanctions against Russia to be approved this week

“Today, we have been discussing the 10th package of sanctions that, as High-Representative and [with] the [European] Commission, together, we have presented as a regulation for the Council to approve. We are on the way to approving it, and I think it is going to be approved during the next hours, in the next days – before 24 [February], in any case. The 10th package of sanctions will be approved by written procedure before 24 [February]. The obstacles that still remain will be overcome,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said following the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He added that the commitment was made by the foreign ministers of all EU member states.  

“There was strong support across the room for the package, and I insist, I am confident that we will be able to adopt it before the end of the week. In the end, it is the Council who approves the sanctions, and this requires unanimity,” Borrell said.

Borrell expressed his belief that the European sanctions work and impact severely the Russian economy. This, in particular, concerns the indicators of public deficit, trade deficit, and the reduction in revenues coming from selling hydrocarbons which have always been the basis of the Russian economy. All of these indicators are currently “in a very bad shape” although last year was a good year for Russia due to the sale of hydrocarbons in a moment where the energy prices “were rocketing.”

“But this is over. We have gotten rid of our dependency on Russia’s hydrocarbons and the prices are going down. Russia is selling its oil at $40 a barrel – half the price of the Brent in international markets…  So, have a look at these three parameters – trade, [public] deficit and income from hydrocarbons – and you will see how much the sanctions are affecting the Russian capacity to continue financing the war,” the EU High Representative noted.

He also said that EU foreign ministers discussed the mechanism and procedures for bringing those responsible for the war to justice.

“We have this vote at the UN General Assembly this week. Together with Ukraine and our G7 partners, we are conducting an intense outreach in order to ensure a broad support for the Resolution on UN Charter principles being put to vote at the General Assembly,” Borrell added.