The twenty-seven decided to double, to bring it to 1 billion euros, the envelope to finance the delivery of arms in Kiev. But they did not reach all the requests from President Zelensky.
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Leave on a concrete decision for Ukraine, in order to reassure Kiev on the fact that the European Union (EU) is at its side in the face of the Russian invasion. On Friday, March 11, on the second day of the Summit of Versailles, which brought together the European Heads of State and Government, the twenty-seven sent a signal, cash ringing and stumb through President Volodymyr Zelensky. They decided to double, to bring it to 1 billion euros, the envelope to finance the delivery of arms to Ukraine to help resist the attacks of the Russian army.
For the rest, Volodymyr Zelensky, in remote contact with his European counterparts Thursday and Friday, did not win. At his request for an adhesion “without delay” to the EU, the twenty-seven responded in the negative. After a long debate between East and West of the continent, they assured that they would tighten their economic and political ties with Kiev and that the country to the borders of the Union was intended to be part of the “European Family “.
The Europeans wanted to open the door, while a membership procedure is a long process, moreover never carried out with a country in an open war situation, likely to pass Russian control. As Andrej Plenkovic recalled, the Croatian Prime Minister, with reference to reunification, “apart from Eastern Germany at the time of Helmut Kohl, no one has integrated the EU in one night.”
No immediate embargo on Russian oil and gas
The twenty-seven have not accessed the demand for Volodymy zelensky to decide on an embargo on Russian hydrocarbons, in order to deprive Vladimir Putin of the currencies with which he finances his war. Berlin and Rome, very dependent on Russian energy, did not want to hear about such a measure.
That said, in the absence of a quick embargo, the Commission works in a plan that could, for Moscow, to assimilate: the reduction of European dependence with two-thirds of two-thirds by the end of The year and 100% by 2027. “It’s feasible,” said Ursula von der Leyen, who will present his concrete proposals in the coming weeks. Before judging necessary to specify: “This is not a prohibition of imports [Russians].”
It remains to be seen whether the community executive will manage to put in music its ambitions and if it will be followed by the Member States. For Sanna Marin, the Finnish leader, “we must get rid of Russian fossil energies as quickly as possible. It is a very difficult situation to have, on the one hand, very hard financial sanctions, and, on the other hand, Side, to support and, in truth, to finance the Russian war by buying gas and oil “.
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