02/22/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/22/2021 12:04
Foreign Minister Liimets at the Foreign Affairs Council: EU showed unity in agreeing on sanctions on Russia
Today 22 February, Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets is in Brussels to attend the meeting of the foreign ministers of the European Union.
The meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council covered EU-Russia relations and the situation in Hong Kong. The ministers also held a strategic discussion with the United States.
'The unity of the European Union is of key importance,' Foreign Minister Liimets said. 'Regrettably, Russia is not genuinely interested in any constructive dialogue with the European Union. The European Union should proceed firmly as a principled values-based actor. It is extremely important that we reached a political agreement today on imposing sanctions against Russia in response to its treatment of Alexei Navalny and peaceful demonstrators. These are the first sanctions to be imposed based on the EU's new global human rights sanctions regime. The EU should increase its support to the civil society in Russia and offer meaningful support to the Eastern Partners whose territorial integrity has been violated by Russia. The situation in Belarus is also not showing any signs of improvement - we must put more joint pressure on the regime and increase our support to the civil society.'