The move is part of a broader Western effort to help Ukraine maintain its fierce resistance.
Brussels:
EU nations remained divided on Monday over a ban on Russian energy imports, as a top EU official criticized “a major war crime” being carried out by Moscow in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol .
However, a meeting between foreign and defense ministers in Brussels gave the green light to double the financial package of arms supplies to Ukraine to 1 billion euros.
The European Union and its Western allies have rolled out a raft of sanctions that wreak havoc on Russia’s economy as they seek to punish President Vladimir Putin for invading his neighbour.
Several member states, including the Baltic states and Ireland, boosted vital Russian oil exports in a new round of sanctions.
However, economic powerhouse Germany – and other countries still dependent on Russia’s fossil fuels – have been reluctant to target key industries.
“Today is not the day for decisions in the region, so no decisions have been made,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
“What we need to do is make sure we come up with an effective response that doesn’t lead to an unbearable cost to member states.”
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said energy was an “obvious area where if we want these sanctions to work we should focus on”.
“But it’s not that simple, unfortunately and that’s because some EU member states are heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas.”
He said ministers had now given EU leaders a chance to move forward with a decision at a summit at the weekend.
The debate over a new round of sanctions comes as Russia puts pressure on it with a devastating attack on Ukrainian cities – particularly the port of Mariupol.
“What’s happening in Mariupol is a massive war crime, destroying everything, bombarding and killing everyone,” Borrell said.
He also accused Russia of pushing as many Ukrainians as possible to flee the country, after more than 3 million people fled across the border to the EU.
“I believe Putin is using refugees as a tool, an arm, sending out as much as he can,” Borrell said.
“They don’t destroy transportation infrastructure, they just destroy cities to terrify civilians and make them escape.”
In an effort to support Kyiv, the EU turned arms suppliers to fund the supply of weapons to help Ukrainian forces fight the Russian invaders.
Borrell said that the ministers reached a political agreement on Monday to add an additional 500 million euros ($550 million) in funding to the arms funding package for Ukraine.
The move – expected to be officially signed later this week – is part of a broad Western effort to help Ukraine maintain its fierce resistance.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
