In light of the continuing Russian military operations in Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday stated that the European Union (EU) would increase its support for Kyiv by financing the purchase and delivery of weapons, banning Russian state-owned media from Europe, and sanctioning Belarus for aiding Moscow in invading the East European country.
“For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack. We are also strengthening our sanctions against the Kremlin.” von der Leyen tweeted, adding, “We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”
We are stepping up our support for Ukraine.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 27, 2022
For the first time, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and equipment to a country under attack.
We are also strengthening our sanctions against the Kremlin.
https://t.co/qEBICNxYa1
The sanctions against Moscow include: barring state-owned media outlets such as Russia Today, RT, and Sputnik from broadcasting in the EU; closing the bloc’s airspace and airports for Russian-owned, registered, or controlled aircraft; and restricting Russian oligarchs from accessing the bloc’s financial market.
Additionally, von der Leyen said some Russian banks would be removed from the SWIFT international payments system, which will block Russia’s imports and exports. The move was announced in coordination with other countries, including the United States (US), Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK). Germany had earlier opposed the inclusion of the SWIFT network in sanctions against Russia, which had angered Ukraine, but later came around following intense pressure.
The sanctions also target Belarus for aiding Russia with the invasion of Ukraine. “Belarus will therefore be hit with a new package of sanctions, which will introduce restrictive measures for their most important sectors - mineral fuels, tobacco, timber, iron, and steel,” von der Leyen said.
Third, we will target the other aggressor in this war, Lukashenko’s regime, with a new package of sanctions, hitting their most important sectors.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 27, 2022
All these measures come on top of the strong package presented yesterday,
agreed by our international partners. pic.twitter.com/ikN99V14zU
The latest list of punitive measures build on the initial sanctions announced last week, which: targeted Moscow’s energy, financial, and transport sectors; introduced stringent export controls; restricted visa issuance; and instituted travel bans and asset freezes on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
Apart from the Union, the bloc’s member states have also pledged to increase support for Ukraine. On Sunday, Sweden said it would send military equipment—including anti-tank weapons and single-use anti-tank launchers—to Ukraine and close its airspace to Russian flights.
#NEWS: Czech Republic, Netherlands and Portugal commit reinforcements to assist Ukraine against #Russia #UkraineRussia #Ukraine
— Jaqueline Hurtado (@HurtadoCNN) February 26, 2022
Following the announcements in Brussels, in an interview with Euronews, von der Leyen said, “Ukraine is one of us, and we want them in the European Union.” Despite supporting Ukraine for the bloc’s membership, however, she refused to comment on the timeline of Ukraine’s accession to the EU. “We have a process with Ukraine that is, for example, integrating the Ukrainian market into the single market,” she said. Her comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky questioned the bloc and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over Ukraine’s pending membership applications.
Commenting on the possibility of peace talks, the European Commission president said, “Of course, it is important that the Ukrainian side agrees to the peace talks and that conditions are fine for the Ukrainian side. In general, it is always better to have peace talks than to have a fight. But the trust in President Putin is completely broken and eroded.”
Meanwhile, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 360,000 Ukrainians have fled to neighbouring countries such as Poland, Moldova, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Women, children, and the elderly constitute most of the refugees, given that men aged between 18 and 60 have been ordered to remain in the country in order to join the war. On Sunday, UNHCR said 45,200 people had arrived in Poland within 15 hours. The Organization claims that approximately four million Ukrainians could leave the country if the situation deteriorates further.
Ukraine’s neighbours have announced an unconditional welcome for people fleeing the war. For instance, Poland opened its borders for fleeing Ukrainians, even those without official documents, and also removed its entry requirement of a negative COVID-19 test. On Saturday, they sent a hospital train to pick those wounded in the war in western Ukraine to treat them in hospitals in Warsaw.
Furthermore, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán opened the country’s borders for all citizens and legal residents of Ukraine. Besides this, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina also expressed their willingness to help and opened borders for fleeing Ukrainians.