Members of NATO’s military alliance are supplying Kyiv with weapons from Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February. The United States, for example, has supplied anti-aircraft stingers, thousands of anti-tank weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition. However, for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmitry Kuleba, this is not enough. “My agenda is very simple. It has only three issues. They are weapons, weapons and weapons,” Kuleba said as he arrived in Brussels, Belgium for a meeting with NATO members. “In recent months, in recent weeks, the Ukrainian army and the entire Ukrainian nation have shown that we know how to fight. We know how to win. “, He added. The Czech Republic became the first NATO member to announce the deployment of tanks to Ukraine earlier this week. Ukraine’s call for more practical help comes at a critical time in the war. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that Russia was moving troops from northern Ukraine to reinforce them and move them east. “President Putin’s goal is to try to control the whole of Donbass and build a land bridge … We saw no sign that President Putin changed his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine and also to rewrite the international order,” he said. he said. “We have to be prepared for the long distance.”
Energy sanctions
Thursday’s talks at NATO headquarters take place as the EU debates whether and when the bloc will impose a ban on Russian oil. The issue of sanctions on Russian energy is a controversial issue for Europe, which is heavily dependent on Moscow for gas, oil and, to a lesser extent, coal. The 27-member bloc is working this week to end Russian coal imports in response to growing evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces. An EU official, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the talks, said it was likely to take effect in August. Now, however, there is growing momentum behind a possible ban on Russian oil. “We are working on additional sanctions, including oil imports, and we are thinking about some of the ideas presented by the Member States, such as taxes or specific payment channels, such as a guarantee account,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. , he said on Tuesday. EU foreign ministers will discuss the oil ban on Monday next week. There must be a consensus between all 27 Member States in order to proceed with further sanctions. More than 19% of EU coal imports came from Russia in 2020, according to official European statistics. By contrast, 36.5% of its oil imports came from Russia, as did the impressive 41.1% of its gas imports.
