You're reading: Mogherini: No talk of tougher sanctions against Russia, but time to review Minsk status

BRUSSELS -- European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told the Kyiv Post on May 20 that consensus has been reached on extending existing sanctions against Russia, but no talks are under way to toughen them.

Mogherini, speaking at a joint press conference on May 20 with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, also said that she supports an EU review – led by Germany and France – of the status of the Minsk peace agreements.

With respect to deterring Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, now in its third year, Mogherini said “there is no discussion at the moment of increasing the level of sanctions.”

However, Mogherini predicted that EU members will soon formally decide to extend existing sanctions at least through the end of the year to punish the Kremlin’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine. Those include sanctions in the energy, financial and defense spheres, including those designed to restrict Russia’s access to international capital markets and advance technology. Additionally, the EU and America have imposed targeted personal sanctions against scores of Russian and ex-Ukrainian officials.

“You know very well that decisions on the sanctions, on the existing sanctions, have been taken even recently,” Mogherini said. “Let me also underline that all those that were foreseeing divisions in the European Union were always proven wrong. We’ve managed to build and keep our unity. Even if we have different points of view, this is an element of the richness of the European Union, not an element of weakness, in the moment when we manage to unite the differences on a single policy, and be united on its implementation.”

But Mogherini, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, said the time has come to review the Minsk agreements, which have not brought peace.

The EU “needs to have a moment of political reflection, I believe, guided by Germany and France as the European members of the Normandy Format, together with the European Union obviously, on the assessment of the Minsk implementation and the way forward. But we are working every single day and every single night, most of the times, on the Minsk implementation. This is needed on all sides and at full. And this stays the European Union united position.”

Despite the February 2015 Minsk agreements, Russia has not imposed a cease-fire, withdrawn its weapons or returned border control to Ukraine, as promised. Moreover, international monitors don’t have access to all parts of eastern Ukraine under Russian control.

At the press briefing, Stoltenberg said that the NATO-Russia Council is trying to schedule a meeting before the NATO Warsaw Summit in July. He said that NATO and its partners, including the EU, are pursuing a two-track policy with Russia of strengthening Western defenses while continuing dialogue with the Kremlin, despite is aggressive behavior around the world.

“We discussed our relationship with Russia, and we agreed on dual-track approach – defense and deterrence and political dialogue,” Stoltenberg said. “There’s no contradiction between strong defense anddialogue. Our practical cooperation remains suspended; but we decided to keep achance for political dialogue to remain open.”

One of the aims of the NATO-Russia Council meeting, Stoltenberg said, is to reduce risks and increase transparency and predictability. The goal is to avoid “dangerous incidents” and prevent conflict– such as Turkey’s downing of a Russia fighter jet last year – “from spiraling out of control.”

“In the current situation, we need a platform such as the Russia-NATO Council, transparency, political predictability,” he said.

Stoltenberg, asked by the Kyiv Post to respond to critics who say NATO is obsolete, said that the 28-nation alliance is “more relevant than ever” given the increasing dangers in the world.

“NATO and NATO allies face a more challenging and more dangerous security environment now than we have known for in a long time,” Stoltenberg said. “We see a more assertive Russia in the east, annexing Crimea and destabilizing eastern Ukraine. We see all the turmoil and all the violence,the instability in the south.”

NATO is responding to the dangers “with the biggest enhancement of defensive capability since the Cold War,” the general secretary said, ticking off many countries in which NATO either has troops or is engaged in training or other deterrence projects – including Iraq, Tunisia, Turkey and Afghanistan.

He also cited the coming enlargement of NATO to 29 members with the accession of Montengro as a sign of the alliance’s relevance today. “Yesterday we signed the accession agreement for Montenegro, underlining that NATO is in a position where we are able to enlarge,” he said. “What we are seeing is that NATO is as relevant and as important as ever because we live in a more dangerous world. Therefore we need a strong and collective defense and we need a strong alliance that understands the importance of strength but also understands the importance of diplomacy and dialogue.”

A transcript of the press conference can be read here

Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected]. Editor’s Note: Kyiv Post participation in the May 18-20 NATO foreign ministers meeting is sponsored by the NATO public diplomacy division, which exercises no control over the newspaper’s coverage of the event.