Kuleba calls on EU to slam Russian missile, drone industry with devastating sanctions

23.01.2023 16:20

Ukrinform

The tenth EU sanctions package should be adopted as soon as possible and provide for strong restrictions on the Russian missile and drone industry, as well as energy and other areas. It should also shut all possible gaps Russia is using to circumvent the restrictions already imposed.

That’s according to Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, who addressed the Council of EU Foreign Ministers via video conference, Ukrinform reports with reference to MFA’s press service.

"I urge you to introduce devastating sanctions against the Russian missile and drone industry. By destroying or seriously limiting Russia's ability to produce new missiles and drones, we will ‘kill’ their ability to create new means of terror. We will also achieve the long-term strategic goal of deterring Russian missile terror," the Ukrainian top diplomat said.

He called for increased sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation to stop its war crimes, and stressed that no exemptions or easing of sanctions would be acceptable.

"It is very important to close all loopholes for circumventing sanctions. Our data indicate Russia's active attempts to circumvent restrictions. All this must be met with a strong rebuff," said the head of Ukrainian diplomacy.

At the same time, he recalled Ukraine's call to lower the oil price caps as the actual price of Urals is already below $40 per barrel. In addition, he called for the disconnection of more Russian banks from SWIFT, primarily Gazprombank and Bank St. Petersburg, which are involved in financing the war. Kuleba also insists on closing Russia's access to cloud services and operations with cryptocurrency, and also on introducing sanctions against Russian metallurgy.

A separate topic of the Ukrainian minister's speech was the need to end cooperation with Russia in the field of atomic energy and introduce sanctions against Rosatom.

According to Kuleba, the first step may be the introduction of personal sanctions against Rosatom employees and officials involved in the seizure and militarization of Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant.

As reported, a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers on Foreign Affairs is taking place in Brussels on January 23. The participants are set to consider the allocation of another tranche of EUR 500 million from the European Peace Fund for the military support of Ukraine, as well as EUR 45 million to ensure the activities of the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine, within which various EU countries are involved in the training of Ukrainian troops.