The European Union will continue to consider new rounds of sanctions on Russia even though the bloc’s debates have gotten more challenging each time, said European Council President Charles Michel, Bloomberg reports.
“Each debate on sanctions is much more difficult than the previous one,” Michel said Thursday in an interview with reporters during a trip to Kyiv after he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “We have good debates with President Zelenskiy, and I will brief my colleagues on what are the Ukrainian proposals and we will consult. I’m confident we will be able to strengthen the pressure on the Kremlin.”
Michel made the unannounced visit to Kyiv in part to help plan for an EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for Feb. 3.
“I’m confident it will be an occasion and powerful signal that we are together,” he said. “We’ll also decide what are the following steps, what are the common goals.”
Earlier Thursday, Zelenskiy urged more Western sanctions against Russia’s nuclear and missile industries during a press briefing in Kyiv with Michel.
The former Belgian prime minister, whose role involves chairing meetings of EU member states, said that in general, sanctions should be strengthened and “more countries should be involved” in order to resist Russia.
Michel also said that he believes EU countries should provide more tanks to Ukraine, but understands why that decision is more complicated for Germany.
“I think it is needed to provide tanks to Ukraine,” he said. “But it is also needed to respect Germany. It is not an easy decision.”
