The foreign ministers from the 27 European Union states will meet on Friday for a urgent session on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, MIA informs.
Diplomats said the meeting would start at 1400 GMT and include discussion of further options to support Ukraine and how the bloc should deal with Russia going forward. It comes after EU leaders agreed a massive new package of sanctions on Russia Thursday night that target the country’s energy, finance and transport sectors.
The package includes technology export bans and restricts Moscow’s access to the European Union’s financial markets.
“The package of massive and targeted sanctions approved tonight shows how united the EU is,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in the early hours of Friday. Von der Leyen said that the measures include sanctions “targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and key state owned companies,” as well as Russia’s energy sector.
The EU also banned the ban the sale of aircraft and equipment to Russian airlines and cut Russia’s access to “crucial technology.” “Finally: visas,” von der Leyen tweeted after six hours of consultations in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also involved.
“Diplomats and related groups and business people will no longer have privileged access to the European Union.”
EU leaders were meeting after Russia launched a multi-front offensive, including from Belarus, against Ukraine on Thursday which Ukraine has described as a “full-scale invasion” using land, sea and air forces.
