On Wednesday, 21 September, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union met in New York and agreed that new anti-Russian sanctions are needed. This was their response to the recent mobilisation announcement in Russia for the war in Ukraine.
«We will study, we will adopt new restrictive measures aimed against private persons and sectors of the economy,» said High Representative for the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell after the meeting that took place in New York, where ministers participated in a session of the UN General Assembly.
Borrell called this meeting in order to discuss EU’s response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech, in which he announced partial mobilisation of reservists and mentioned veiled threats of using nuclear arms in relation to the war in Ukraine.
Borrell also criticized Putin’s statements, especially Russia retaining the right to ‘use all measures available to it’ to protect the country.
«Threatening the use of nuclear arms presents real danger for the entire world, and the international society must respond to this threat,» said Borrell.
«Putin wants to intimidate Ukraine and all countries that support Ukraine. But he will fail,» he said.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen told CNN, commenting on Putin’s aggressive statements, that the EU must impose new anti-Russian sanctions.