EU rejects Russian ceasefire demand for sanctions relief
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Brussels has rejected Russia’s demand to lift EU restrictions on a key agricultural bank as part of a partial ceasefire deal, saying its sanctions regime will stay in place until the “unconditional withdrawal” of Moscow’s troops from Ukraine.
The European Commission statement on Wednesday came after the US said it had agreed a ceasefire with Russia and Ukraine, covering energy infrastructure and the Black Sea.
The Kremlin later claimed the agreement was dependent on dropping sanctions including those imposed on Rosselkhozbank, a bank involved in financing the production and export of food, and reconnecting it to the global Swift banking messaging system.
“The end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions,” Anitta Hipper, European Commission spokesperson for foreign affairs, told the Financial Times.
“The EU’s main focus remains to maximise pressure on Russia, using all tools available, including sanctions, to diminish Russia’s ability to wage its war against Ukraine.”
The commission has also rejected Russian accusations that its sanctions against Moscow have restricted food and fertiliser exports, a politically sensitive subject given the importance of both to poorer countries.
“The EU has consistently supported efforts towards enhancing global food security. EU sanctions are not targeting trade in agricultural goods, including food, grain and fertilisers, in any way, between Russia and third countries,” Hipper added.
The EU’s position will come as a relief to Ukraine, which has come under heavy pressure from Washington to make concessions to end the full-blown invasion of it that Russia launched three years ago.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that western sanctions against Russia must remain in place until the Kremlin stops its war against his country.
In his Tuesday evening address, the Ukrainian leader said the maritime ceasefire being contingent on sanctions relief for Russia’s agricultural sector was not agreed by the three parties during their parallel talks in Riyadh.
He said that this was “something that the Kremlin is lying about again: that allegedly the silence in the Black Sea depends on the issue of sanctions, and that allegedly the start date for the silence in the energy sector is March 18”.
“We see how the Russians have already started to manipulate,” added Zelenskyy. “They are already trying to distort the agreements and actually deceive our mediators and the whole world.”
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told reporters that Russia’s demands largely repeated what Moscow claimed to have agreed in the 2022 version of the Black Sea deal brokered by the UN and Turkey.
“All the conditions were fulfilled except for those that had to deal with the Russian side,” Peskov said, according to state television. The Russians unilaterally backed out of the Black Sea deal a year later, in 2023.
“Of course, this time justice should win out, and we will continue our work with the Americans,” said Peskov.
