Borrell: No decision made on sanctions against Russian oil
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The EU foreign policy chief hints that more sanctions are unlikely.
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A gas shale (Reuters)
A meeting on Monday between EU foreign ministers did not yield any decisions regarding sanctions against Russian oil, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
"Among the many things considered today when it comes to the situation in Ukraine, some member states did raise issues related to energy. Today was not a day to take decisions, no decision was taken," Borrell told a press conference.
Borrell also revealed that the Union isn't likely to impose more sanctions on Russia this week: for reasons attributed to the sanctions, working-class citizens in UK, Spain, and Germany are seeing a crippling rise in living costs, which are leading to protests.
EU leaders will give their recommendations regarding implementing further sanctions during the upcoming summit on March 24, according to Borrell.
"Certainly the EU Council, when it will be discussing about the situation in Ukraine, I am sure they will consider again what else can be done in the field of sanctions," Borrell added.
Furthermore, the EU foreign minister has also decided to increase military assistance to Kiev by $550 million to over a billion dollars in total, revealed Borrell: "I am glad to announce that we have reached a political agreement for the additional 500 million under the European peace facility."
EU 'may' weaken sanctions on Russia if ends Ukraine operation: Spokesperson
A future where Moscow withdraws its troops from Ukraine and ends its special military operation there could see the European Union softening its sanctions on Russia, European External Action Service spokesperson Peter Stan told RIA Novosti on Monday.
"The end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions for EU Member States to consider scaling back or lifting the sanctions introduced for undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine," Stano said.
The US does not follow suit
In the meantime, the US deputy national security adviser for international economics Daleep Singh said Sunday that Washington may impose additional sanctions against Russia, and the White House is "nowhere near" lifting any of the restrictions.
On CBS News' 60 Minutes, Singh added that "we can broaden our sanctions. So - take the measures, take the sanctions we've already applied, apply them to more targets. Apply them to more sectors."
Furthermore, he specifically stated that Russia's banking sector in addition to the oil and gas sectors could be targeted.
Read more: Russia has alternatives to SWIFT: Central Bank
"It's mostly about oil and gas, but there are other sectors too. I don't wanna specify them, but I think [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would know what those are," Singh added.
