EU Council at Foreign Ministers level to discuss Ukraine again
Ukraine is once again the top item on the agenda of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, which will be held on Thursday.
A senior European diplomat told reporters in Brussels on Friday, announcing the meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, January 29, in Brussels. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha will join his colleagues via video conference.
"Three items on the agenda for discussion. You have heard them before: Russia’s aggressive war, the situation in the Middle East and the situation in the Great Lakes region," he announced the agenda.
The interlocutor told reporters that since the last Foreign Affairs Council, which took place on December 15 last year, "a lot of diplomatic work has been carried out, which has had a fairly successful impact on bringing Europe, the United States and Ukraine closer together." "So, I think we need to take stock. But it is very important that the peace plan that was developed on our side with Ukraine and the United States is now being checked with the Russians. You know about the visits to Moscow, and now the visit to the UAE," he recalled.
The senior European diplomat mentioned the "disappointment" in the EU that, despite the intensive work by the EU, the US and Ukraine, Russia is not participating in it. "On the contrary, the military offensive is ongoing. So, I think that the conversation on Thursday will probably also be an update from Foreign Minister Sybiha on diplomatic channels," he predicts.
The diplomat also believes that there will be a conversation about what the member states and the European Union can do in terms of strengthening security guarantees for Ukraine and other types of support. "There are quite active diplomatic efforts underway to ensure that as many countries as possible support Ukraine’s urgent energy needs to replace what is being destroyed by Russian attacks. And we are at the very center of these efforts. So, I expect that these are the things that will be discussed, in addition to sanctions and the whole part that concerns pressure on Russia," he detailed.