Michel to the EU Council: “We will send weapons to Ukraine in the next few days. Sanctions and isolation for Iran are necessary”

Immediately sending new weapons to Ukraine, moving forward with the plan to use profits from frozen Russian assets and imposing new sanctions on Iran. The second and last day of the European Council begins in Brussels, in which Giorgia Meloni will also take part, returning from the trip to Tunisia where she met President Kais […]

Soon to be sent new weapons for Ukrainego ahead with the plan to use i profits arising from frozen Russian assets and impose new ones sanctions on Iran. The second and last day begins European Council to Brusselsin which he will also take part Giorgia Melonireturning from the trip to Tunisia where he met the president Kais Saied, but the contents addressed by the summit focused on ongoing conflicts have already been circulated. “The European Council underlines the need to urgently provide air defense systems to Ukraine and to speed up and step up the delivery of all necessary military assistance, including artillery ammunition and missiles. It invites the Council, in particular at the next summit, and the Member States to ensure the necessary follow-up – reads the draft conclusions – The European Council welcomes the progress on the proposal to use the extra profits arising from Russia’s frozen assets for the benefit of ‘Ukraine and calls for rapid adoption.”

Aid to Ukraine soon
The president of the EU Council provides more details, Charles Michelwhich promises the release of new aid in the coming days: “Ukraine does not need words, but more ammunition And air defense, Member States understand this and we have had an in-depth discussion on this. And there will be a response in a matter of days and weeks, not months”, he guaranteed, also placing emphasis on the initiatives of European governments against Russian influences in view of the next elections: “It was a necessary debate” which took place in the presence of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta MetsolaMichel explained in reference to the alleged network of influences, financed by Kremlin and discovered in recent weeks by Czech and Belgian intelligence, which involves some MEPs. “We would like to guarantee monitoring, we must be much more vigilant and cooperate more” warned Michel, underlining the need to “bring together the tools we have, the European institutions on the one hand, but also the national authorities on the other”. “It is a clear signal that we are not naive” he concluded, hoping for “greater effectiveness” in this field.

Greater effectiveness, despite the satisfaction with the agreement found in the Council, is also requested by the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba: “I see no divisions in the international community over aid to Ukraine. Indeed, if we follow the announcements made since the beginning of the year in various countries, the volume and quality of new defense assistance packages are increasing – he said interviewed by SkyTg24 to the G7 Foreign Affairs in Capri – What we need to work on is the timing and this is the main purpose of my presence here. We need to make deliveries as quickly as possible. We can’t delay them until the day after tomorrow. They have to happen tomorrow.”

Sanctions on Iran
The other major dossier in the hands of the 27 heads of state and government is that of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. The decision of the EU Council, Michel always reports, was to implement new sanctions: “It is a clear signal that we want to send. We believe it is very important to interact with countries in the region to isolate Iran – he said – in order to try to support a peace process. We support Israel’s security.” For Michel “the idea is to target companies that produce drones and missiles”. Beyond the medium-term measures, the message coming out of the Brussels summit is that “the EU condemns Iran’s attack against Israel. Everything possible must be done to help bring stability to the region and avoid escalation. We ask all parties to exercise the maximum moderation“.