Ukraine-Russia war, in the EU “in a week a million people” fleeing Ukraine “arrived in the EU and more will come”. Thus the EU High Representative Josep Borrell, at a press conference in Brussels.
The Russians “are bombing schools, hospitals, civilian infrastructure. They want to destroy Ukraine”, Borrell underlined, adding: “We need safe corridors for the Red Cross” to rescue civilians.
The one in progress “is Putin’s war. And only Putin can stop it”, said the EU High Representative. “It is not East against West – he added – it is not a remake of the Cold War. We are defending the sovereignty of all states. Russia is completely isolated, as demonstrated by the vote in the UN General Assembly: the world is with Ukraine “.
The EU could “expand the number of Russian banks” that will be excluded from the Swift messaging system. “We proposed to study other banks: let’s see,” Borrell said again. Of course, he noted, it is always possible to “aggravate” the sanctions, but those already decided must be “implemented” and have already done considerable damage to the Russian economy: “Today Russia has already defaulted on some bonds: it is an important result , in just three days “.
And the EU sanctions, he specified, “do not aim at regime change”, but “at weakening the Russian economy. We do not have the power to stop the war tomorrow, but we can greatly weaken the Russian economy”, he said. “International isolation and economic weakening have consequences”, but “not immediate. This is what we can do”, also because, he recalls, establishing a no fly zone over Ukraine would mean being ready to shoot down Russian and non-Russian aircraft. it is, in any case, a task that would be up to the EU.
Russia supplies the EU with “40%” of its gas needs, so “don’t expect us to cut it” to zero “overnight”. But we have to “reduce” this addiction “very quickly and that’s what we’re going to do,” she concluded.
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