Kallas calls on EU to maintain sanctions against Russia — The Guardian
In New York, United States, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on member states to maintain sanctions against Russia after a meeting of the foreign ministers of European Union countries. She said the restrictions were one of the key elements of the EU’s response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, The Guardian reports.
According to Kallas, officials aim to conclude negotiations on extending the sanctions in the near future and swiftly adopt the relevant decision. She also noted that the European Union is working on a new package of restrictions.
Sanctions negotiations
The discussions are taking place amid attempts by some EU countries to remove certain individuals from the sanctions list. On Monday, the bloc’s countries failed to finalize an agreement that would have provided for lifting sanctions against Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the possible removal of Usmanov and Fridman from the list unacceptable and said it would send Moscow the wrong signal. Talks in Brussels are set to continue as the EU seeks to agree on extending restrictions against nearly 3,000 individuals and entities before a deadline expiring at the end of Tuesday.
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Russian attacks and UN warning
The Russian Federation is an aggressor state whose troops continued attacks along an approximately 1,200-kilometer front line. According to regional officials, at least five people were killed in strikes on Monday. In Lozova, Kharkiv region, a drone strike killed one person and injured three others, according to prosecutors, while a car driver was killed in Nikopol.
Deaths were also reported in Kramatorsk and a neighboring village in Donetsk region. A three-year-old child was killed in an attack in a village in Mykolaiv region. The Guardian notes that these reports of attacks could not be independently verified.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia also shelled Zaporizhzhia overnight: apartment buildings, a university and a shopping center were damaged, and five people were injured.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine warned that intensified attacks on infrastructure by Russia and Ukraine are making civilians increasingly vulnerable ahead of winter. The commission recalled that last winter, millions of people in Ukraine experienced prolonged power outages, shortages of heating or prolonged periods without heating.
