European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis spoke to the media in Washington on Thursday (April 21st). 04.30 Cheriss May / Bloomberg / Getty Images
Europe is discussing a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, including a strike on Russia’s energy market, a senior European Commission official and Lithuania’s finance minister said on Friday.
European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said one of the issues was the oil embargo. There have been discussions about “smart sanctions”, which may initially include tariffs rather than a full embargo.
“So there may be some nuances, but this work continues,” Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington, DC.
In a separate interview with CNN in the US capital, Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skyste said she had discussed a possible next tranche of sanctions with US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeimo.
We always propose to include in the sanctions the energy sector, especially oil, as well as “additional sanctions for Russia’s financial sector,” Skyste said.
Skyste said sanctions must be coordinated to have an impact. “If we do not agree on sanctions together, the United States with all Western allies, it will not work,” she said.
Dombrovskis said that “technically, the approval of sanctions can be very quick, it can be done in one or two days.”
“The main issue here is that sanctions require unanimity between member states, so these political discussions continue in parallel, so it is important to reach a unanimous political agreement,” he said.
Skyste said it was too early to say when there would be an agreement on the next round of sanctions. She noted that the sanctions have both a short-term and a long-term goal: to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and to weaken the Russian economy so that it cannot strengthen its army.
“If there are no opportunities to strengthen their army, we would like to think that there will be no war in Europe,” she said.
Dombrovskis said it was important that the existing sanctions were actually implemented, noting that they worked with both EU member states and the wider international community.
“The fact is that not all countries have joined these Western sanctions,” he said, noting that Beijing is “hedging its stakes” and trying to push China and other nations closer to our approach to Russia. “.
Skyste said they were also focused on helping Ukraine’s government survive in the short and long term on how to rebuild Ukraine more effectively, which she said “should be closely involved in Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.” union “.
Both Skyste and Dombrovskis have expressed concern about Putin’s future goals if he is not resolutely stopped in Ukraine.
Skyste told CNN that Russia was trying to impose its influence on neighboring countries, noting that this was “not the first time”.
“Russian propaganda, certain authorities, representatives do not hide that Russia plans to go further and if we do not stop them in Ukraine, they will invade other neighboring countries,” said Dombrovskis, calling it not only an attack on Ukraine but also on European security more broadly.
Asked if Europe would respond with the same unity if Moldova were attacked by Russia, Dombrovskis said they should focus on Ukraine right now, “because Putin will get as far as we let him go.”
CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed to the report for this post.
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