French Foreign Minister Jean -Noel Barrot said on Thursday that the European Union is preparing to strike Russia with a round of 17 sanctions, describing President Vladimir Putin as a “single obstacle” in front of peace in Ukraine.
The bloc imposed 27 unprecedented sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion, and this year said it would not be lifted before Putin’s “unconditional” withdrawal of the forces from Ukraine.
“We Europeans will accompany this American initiative (sanctions) through a 17 package of sanctions,” Barrot told AFP in an interview.
Graham has mobilized dozens of legislators from both sides to support a plan to impose additional sanctions on Moscow as well as customs tariffs on countries that buy Russian energy, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Barrot targeted the Russian president during the interview, saying: “It is now clear that the only obstacle to peace today in Ukraine is Vladimir Putin.”
Moscow forces launched a comprehensive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in an attempt to control that Kiev was thwarted with the assistance of international assistance provided by the United States and countries in Europe mainly.
Ukraine “accepted an unconditional ceasefire and yesterday agreed to conclude an agreement on critical minerals with the United States.”
“According to the data of Ukrainian officials, it is compatible with Ukraine’s expectations to engage in economic cooperation with the United States, but also with other countries,” he said.
Russia “did not make any effort”
“In the meantime, Russia did not make any effort in Vladimir Putin, and did not send any sign that she is ready to stop the shooting or peace that President Donald Trump aspires, and that the Europeans and of course the Ukrainians aspire to him,” Barrot said.
The French minister did not rule out the possibility that France, which he said, has “experience” in rare land minerals, could highlight an economic agreement with Ukraine.
Washington’s deal with Kyiv will witness that the United States and Ukraine are developing jointly and investing in the critical mineral resources of the country.
Ukraine hopes that the deal will eventually pave the way for security guarantees from the United States, as it seeks to protect future Russian attacks.
Barrot spoke to Agence France -Presse shortly after his meeting with his counterpart in the United States Marco Rubio and said he welcomed their explicit conversations.
The French minister said: “We had a non -candidate exchange that allowed us to coordinate closely, but also to recognize the convergence of our goals on regional and international crises, because we want to dispose of a concert.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Tami Bruce said that Barrot and Rubio met “to push the road to peace in Ukraine.”
She added: “The minister explained that President Trump focuses on stopping the irreversible bloodshed in Ukraine and emphasized an American commitment to work closely with France and other European partners to secure permanent peace.”
For Barrot, “This is a decisive moment for Europe.”
He pointed out that French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for years for European strategic independence and “European column of NATO”.
On the customs duties imposed by Washington, Barrot called for “the abolition of the escalation so that we can return to the position previously made by the Trump administration in the interest of both the United States and Europe.”
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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