The discussion on the Russian aggression against Ukraine began with an address by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who updated the Council directly on the latest developments. The minister spoke about the recent attacks on Kyiv, highlighting the necessity for the EU members to carry on with their military support for Ukraine and political and economic pressure on Russia.

Minister Radosław Sikorski stressed that a new round of sanctions against Russia, aimed at the energy and the financial sectors, must be adopted as soon as possible. He also opted for stronger instruments to counter the illegal practices of the shadow fleet so as to curb Russia’s capacity to fund further aggression. Minister Sikorski called for travel restrictions to be put in place on the Russian diplomats moving around the EU member states. He repeated his appeal to Hungary to unblock Ukraine’s EU accession process. 

The discussion on the Middle East took place a few days after an EU foreign ministers’ informal video conference on the Israel–Iran conflict. The ministers talked about the situation following the attacks carried out by the US on 22 June and targeting three nuclear facilities in Iran (at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan). Minister Sikorski said that the elimination of Iran’s nuclear programme requires a return to diplomacy and a window for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to verify the situation locally.

In the discussion on China and European security, Poland’s top diplomat shared a view that the upcoming EU–China summit on 24–25 July should be an opportunity to consolidate EU’s position, especially on security, economic or otherwise. A growing rapprochement between China and Russia needs to be noted, as does the ensuing threat to our security and economic interests.

 

Photo: Gabriel Piętka/MFA