European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill referred questions to the future when asked about the intentions of the upcoming Cyprus EU Presidency regarding the next EU sanctions package against Russia, stressing that the Commission does not comment on sanctions packages that are still under discussion and have not yet been presented. The Commission was asked about the positions and intentions of the Cypriot Presidency with regard to the forthcoming 20th sanctions package.
Commission spokesperson Gill said that ‘the Cypriot Presidency begins in around ten days and we are already in close contact with them.’ As he noted, ‘we have been working with them to help prepare their presidency and we are discussing the full range of topics on which they will be working during their presidency, including the ongoing work on Ukraine.’
With regard to the 20th sanctions package, he underlined that ‘as you know very well, we don’t comment on future sanctions packages while they’re still under discussion.’ He added, however, that ‘we are working very closely with our member states to make sure that we take all the necessary steps that we can take as a European Union to hinder Russia’s ability to wage its cruel, barbaric, illegal and unjustified war of aggression.’
At the same time, he stressed that ‘in each new sanctions package, we try to tighten any gaps or deficiencies we have identified from previous packages,’ assuring that ‘this will continue to be the case.’