STOCKHOLM, August 29. /TASS/. EU foreign and defense ministers are to hold a planned informal two-day meeting in Copenhagen where they will discuss new sanctions against Russia, arms supplies to Ukraine and "security guarantees" for it after the conflict, which they currently see as investments in arms production on its territory, and sending troops there.
Although the range of issues discussed is known from numerous media leaks and reports from sources, there is no official agenda for this meeting, as it is informal in nature. No practical decisions or written statements are expected to follow either. Such meetings are held in the European Union twice a year and are organized by the country holding the presidency of the EU Council. At those meetings, the discussion is essentially free-flowing: each minister can raise any topic of interest to his country or Europe as a whole.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and head of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee David McAllister will be special guests of the meeting. Both have already announced that they will call on ministers to increase pressure on Russia and make every effort to forcefully militarize the European Union.
In Copenhagen, the European Commission will present a 19th package of sanctions, which its head Ursula von der Leyen promises to adopt in September. As the European Politico publication noted, the EU has long exhausted its potential levers of economic pressure on Russia, which is why there are no particular surprises to be expected. The European Commission proposes new restrictions against Russia’s energy and banking sectors, as well as blacklisting new individuals and legal entities.
Von der Leyen has also promised "new steps" in the area of using frozen Russian assets. The European Commission's press service later explained that this was not about the possibility of expropriating assets, but only about further confiscation of income from reinvestment of 210 bln euros of Russian sovereign assets illegally blocked in the EU. The European Union also intends to consider the possibility of using secondary sanctions against countries that work with Russia, helping it overcome the Western sanctions blockade. Brussels claims that secondary sanctions could be used for the first time.
European ministers are set to discuss the so-called security guarantees for Ukraine in the post-conflict period. The ministers will also continue to discuss the possibility of sending their troops to Ukraine.