The European Council should decide, from Thursday evening, the vast plan of sanctions prepared for weeks by the twenty-seven against Russia.
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The war committed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine sparked an avalanche of convictions and all-round consultations on the side of Western capitals. These were alert since Wednesday at the end of the afternoon, when new information emerged on the imminence of a large offensive.
“President Putin chose [to launch] a premeditated war that will result in catastrophic suffering and human losses,” said US President Joe Biden in a statement. “Russia, alone, is responsible for the death and destruction that this attack will provoke,” he insisted, ensuring that “the world would require accounts of Russia”.
The European Union condemns “in the strongest possible terms the unjustified invasion of Ukraine by the Russian forces” as well as “the involvement of Belarus” in this aggression. The twenty-seven also call on the Russian President to “cease immediately military operations and to withdraw all the military forces from the entire Ukrainian territory”.
Sending weapons
Emmanuel Macron could join his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, on his mobile phone, in the early morning, to affirm “all the support and solidarity” of France, when Kiev was targeted by bombing. Mr. Zelensky, said the Elysee, “described the situation and asked for multiple interventions to support Ukraine.” In the stride, the Elysée organized a defense council.
Convened Wednesday At the end of the afternoon, while the Russian offensive seemed imminent, the European Council should decide on Thursday evening the vast penalty plan for weeks by the twenty-seven, in close consultation with the United States. The representatives of the Member States met from the beginning of the morning to finalize the details of this announced response as “massive” and “expensive” for Russia. This includes blocking exports in a number of areas, especially high-tech products.
Thursday at the beginning of the afternoon, the leaders of the G7 also had to speak in videoconference, on the initiative of the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who presides this instance this year. It should be a question of coordinating the different plans of sanctions, in order to react as soon as possible at the choice of the war made by Vladimir Putin. Without great illusion, the idea is also to encourage it to return to the table of discussions to try to restore the safety order of the whole European continent. Start with Ukraine.
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