The President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Thursday in Kyiv that she hopes that the tenth package of sanctions against Russia for having invaded Ukraine will be ready by February 24, when the first anniversary is celebrated. of the start of the war.
"By February 24, exactly one year after the invasion began, we want to have the tenth package of sanctions" against Russia, Von der Leyen said in a statement to the press together with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky in kyiv. where he has traveled with 15 other members of the European Commission to discuss cooperation with the Government of Ukraine.
German politics has claimed that Moscow today pays a "heavy price" as the sanctions imposed on it by the EU "erode its economy, setting it back a generation."
In addition, the ceiling that they have imposed on Russian oil, he said, is already costing Russia about 160 million euros a day and he has assured that they will increase the pressure: "We will introduce with our G7 partners an additional limit on the price of Russian petroleum products.
Regarding the tenth package of sanctions in preparation, the high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, indicated before traveling to Kyiv this Thursday to a group of media, including EFE, that in this new round of restrictive measures an attempt will be made to make it even more difficult for Russia to access technological components.
It would basically be about closing spaces that Moscow takes advantage of to get hold of these components, which are already in short supply due to previous sanctions and that it needs to use them in equipment such as drones or war planes.
Von der Leyen has also referred in his speech with Zelenski to the fact that Russia "has to pay for the destruction it is causing". “Reconstruction is the great general theme. We are in this fight together and we will rebuild this beautiful country together”, he declared.
To do this, together with the G7, they have promoted a donor coordination platform to which the EU wants to contribute an initial 1,000 million euros. In addition, Von der Leyen has pointed out that they are "exploring together with our partners how to use Russia's public assets" frozen by the sanctions "for the benefit of Ukraine".
He has also pointed out that Moscow will have to ask the courts to account for "its heinous crimes", and in this sense he has recalled that Ukrainian and European prosecutors are already working together.
Von der Leyen has announced in this context that an international center will be opened in The Hague to "prosecute the crime of aggression against Ukraine", which will be in charge of collecting evidence and will be integrated into the already existing joint investigation team that has the support of the Netherlands and Eurojust. "The person responsible must be held accountable", he concluded.
After a first meeting between Von der Leyen and Zelenski, it is planned that the commissioners who have traveled to Kyiv with members of the Ukrainian government will then hold a meeting, in order to discuss Ukraine's cooperation and progress on its path to accession.
Tomorrow, Friday, a summit between the two parties will take place in the Ukrainian capital, in which, in addition to Zelensky and Von der Leyen, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, will participate.
Borrell will also be part of the EU representatives who will continue their stay in Kyiv, while the rest of the commissioners are expected to return today from Ukraine.
