LUXEMBOURG: European Union foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses and placing more sanctions on Iran.
The ministers from the 27-member bloc will also discuss the war in Sudan, but most of their focus will remain on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
As Russia has increased air attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and other targets, EU governments are under pressure to provide more air defense systems such as the Patriots to Kyiv.
Ukraine and its European partners got a big boost at the weekend when the US House of Representatives approved a defense package worth $60 billion to support Kyiv in the war against Russia.
However, the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg have been asking European nations to enhance their efforts to provide more weapons to Ukraine, especially air defense.
After a video conference of NATO defense ministers with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, Stoltenberg said he expected announcements at the conference.
He added that NATO has reviewed its existing capabilities across the military alliance and some systems that can be provided to Ukraine very soon.
He said in addition to the Patriots, there are other arms that allies can provide, including the SAMP/T French system
So far, Germany is the only EU member state to announce the sending of an additional Patriots system in response to Ukraine’s latest requests.
The foreign ministers will be joined by their defense counterparts for Monday’s Ukraine meeting, as well as foreign and defense ministers of Ukraine, before deliberating on the Middle East crisis that started on October 7 last year.
Sanctions against Iran
The ministers will also try to reach an agreement on how to put more sanctions against Iran, following Tehran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend.
The EU has already placed multiple sanctions against Iran, for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, supplying drones to Russia and human rights abuses.
The EU leaders last week agreed they would put further sanctions against Iran. Many EU nations have called for widening the drone-related sanctions on Iran.
According to diplomats, the EU countries are also discussing whether to impose new sanctions related to missile production on Tehran.
Some countries are also demanding the EU to find a way to declare Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards force as a terrorist organization.
But officials say they have not yet found any legal basis for such a step.
