On Monday, Poland and Lithuania joined Ukraine in calling for fresh sanctions on Russia as tensions are still simmering in the region.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in western Ukraine.
In a joint statement, the Eastern European leaders called for “the international community to step up sanctions on the Russian Federation over its ongoing aggression against Ukraine and once again urged the Kremlin to de-escalate the situation by withdrawing its troops from the Ukrainian borders and temporarily occupied territories.”
Ukraine and the US have been accusing Russia of planning to invade Ukraine, an accusation Moscow denies. The Biden administration has threatened sanctions against Russia if it invades, but Ukrainian officials want sanctions now.
On Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the US and other Western powers to share details of the planned sanctions. Otherwise, Kuleba said, the threat wouldn’t deter Moscow.
The Ukrainian calls for sanctions come after Russia submitted security proposals to the US and NATO in a bid to ease tensions. Russia is eager to negotiate with the US and any new sanctions would signal to Moscow that Washington isn’t serious about diplomacy.
The heavyweights are leading the pack…..
We are approaching the coldest part of Winter and Russia provides Europe with around 25% of our gas. Do we really want to constantly antagonise them? I should also point out that Russia provides the majority of Ukraine’s gas.