The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, took part in the extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union, which was held on February 27, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. by videoconference.
The informal meeting on Sunday notably allowed to consider the adoption of a series of new strong sanctions against Russia to continue reacting to the brutal aggression of Russia against Ukraine. Additional measures of assistance to Ukraine were also decided in this context.
Thus, it was decided to adopt sanctions against the Russian Central Bank and to close the entire European airspace for Russian aircraft. Ministers also approved the principle of excluding a number of Russian banks from the Swift mechanism, as well as a series of new sanctions against Belarus, which is actively supporting Russia in this war. New individuals will be added to the list of sanctions adopted by the European Union since the beginning of the Russian aggression.
Ministers also took the decision to provide additional assistance measures to Ukraine under the “European Peace Facility”. For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of arms and other equipment to enable a country victim of military aggression to defend itself.
All these decisions will be implemented as soon as possible.
Minister Asselborn welcomed the strong reaction of the EU and underlined that Luxembourg supports all support measures for Ukraine.
Press release by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
–
