EU sanctions against Russia

Berlin (dpa) — The EU is preparing a new sanctions package for Russia, the EU’s foreign affairs representative, Kaja Kallas, announced on Monday following a video conference of EU foreign ministers.

It would be the 19th package of punitive measures imposed on Moscow. She did not provide details on the planned sanctions.

She also stated: “As far as Russia has not agreed to full and unconditional ceasefire, we should not even discuss any concessions.

“It has never worked in the past with Russia, and will not work with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin today.

“The sequencing of the steps is important.

“First an unconditional ceasefire with a strong monitoring system and ironclad security guarantees.”

The EU foreign ministers were also informed by Ukraine about the situation on the battlefield, Kallas said.

“We fully support an end to this war in a way that doesn’t leave a backdoor open for Russia to re-enter and restart its aggression,” the Estonian diplomat emphasized.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump and Putin are set to meet to discuss the war in Ukraine.