Sybiha to urge EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg to tighten sanctions on Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will travel to Luxembourg on 12 October to attend, in person, a meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council. The Council brings together the foreign ministers of EU member states to discuss the bloc's external policy. The visit was announced by Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by European Pravda.

What Ukraine wants to achieve

According to the ministry, Sybiha will brief his European counterparts on the escalation of Russian aggression, which has caused a large number of civilian casualties, on the main needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and on the development of peace efforts.

The key topics named by the ministry are increasing pressure on Russia, developing defence cooperation and advancing Ukraine's EU membership negotiations. Sybiha will stress the need to strengthen sanctions, make full use of frozen assets, protect Ukrainian airspace, unblock Ukrainian food exports and bolster energy resilience. He will also call for the remaining EU accession negotiating clusters to be opened.

The minister plans several separate bilateral talks with European counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting. His programme also includes meetings with senior Luxembourg officials.

On the Council's agenda

On 12 October the Council will discuss further restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats between EU countries. These could include a complete ban on travel outside the country in which a diplomat is accredited.

The EU foreign ministers are also expected to approve 1,646 new sanctions listings. The source describes this as the largest amount of Russia sanctions ever approved at once.