Foreign Affairs Council: Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas upon arrival
Check against delivery!
Good morning,
We have a full day ahead. We [will] discuss foreign interference. We [will] discuss also the issues regarding different topics.
But of course, the main topic is war in Ukraine. We have now 1,600 listings that we are putting forward regarding the Russian military industrial complex, but also the sham elections in Russia regarding the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Then, of course, we welcome the energy ceasefire when it holds. We have not yet seen that also Russia will stick to it. Of course, personally, I would also welcome that the ceasefire would include people not being killed. Not only energy, but also energy is extremely important because the winter is going to be cold. It is important that it does not only apply to the refineries, where Ukraine has one and Russia has plenty. It is definitely in the benefit of the Russians. We have Minister Sybiha here also joining us, giving firsthand knowledge from Ukraine.
Then, on the Middle East, we of course condemn the escalated attacks by the Houthis at the airport and also express our condolences for the people who have lost their lives. And there, we have the discussion: what more can we do in this? Yesterday, I also spoke to the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal. What more can we do: we have Operation ASPIDES. Also, their call was that we would strengthen this Operation so that it would work hand in hand with their international force to keep Bab el-Mandeb open and also the commercial ships getting out of the Red Sea.
Then, we also will get to a decision regarding the mission in Lebanon. So, we will establish a new mission in Lebanon. It has a civilian and military pillar, and if we are going to adopt this decision, we hope also that this mission will be ready to work on the ground already in a couple of months' time. And I was just in Lebanon last week. This is highly welcomed by the local authorities.
And of course we have many other topics on the table. So, we hope that we get it all done by the time, when we have to finish it.
Q&A
Q. On the topic of Georgia. We will talk again about sanctions. Don't you assume that it is time for dialogue with the Georgian government, or do we continue like by boycotting the Georgian government and talking about sanctions?
We will discuss Georgia very briefly today. But I will also propose that we have an in-depth discussion regarding Georgia in January.
Q. What is your reaction to the Trump-Putin diesel deal? Doesn't this go against everything we have been working for in the past?
That is why we are continuing our path. We are now adopting 1,600 listings because we only see that pressure on Russia would work. Russia has started this war. We should not forget about this. We should put the pressure on Russia so that they will stop. Because if they stop, Ukrainians also do not have to take any steps to defend that country, and that is what is all at stake. So, this kind of deal we hope that this ceasefire will hold, but we have not seen it holding so far.
Q. Why are you always saying that the sanctions work [inaudible]?
Well, that is not true, actually. We are seeing a lot. The sanctions have deprived them of €1 trillion, and that €1 trillion is not going to fund this war. Also, the actions that we are doing regarding the shadow fleet are making their efforts to fund this war much harder. Yes, they are also creative, finding new ways to circumvent the sanctions. But we are also more agile in putting this always on the table. In the last 10 FACs, we have actually decided new listings, and because we have to be really seeing what they are doing, so that we can reply. But it would work so much better if our partners from the UK and from US would be aligned with us. UK is aligned with us, but if US would be aligned, if they would enact the Graham Bill regarding Russia, we could really put the pressure so that Russia will finish this war.
Q. What is your reaction to Donald Trump calling for new elections in Ukraine?
Well, almost every constitution has provision that when you have a war going on, then you cannot have elections. And I understand that President Zelenskyy has also said that if there would be a ceasefire, then he is willing to have the elections as soon as possible. But elections are always fighting between different groups inside the country, while the attacks are coming from outside, and that is why it is really important to keep people together while the war is going on. If the pressure is put on Russia so that they will stop this war, I am sure that Ukraine will have elections.
Q. [inaudible] Are they still a partner?
Well, US is our biggest ally, but our message is clear: if we want to end this war, the only way we can do this is putting more pressure on Russia, and we would call on US to put the sanctions in place so that actually we could finish this war and all these effects of attacks on refineries would not be there, would not be necessary if the war is over.
Q. How did you identify all these people for the new listings? Where does the evidence come from?
We identified new listings like we always do. Member States are proposing, intelligence services are proposing what kind of information they see, but also open sources that are coming that we see. We have a system for verifying these listings. That is why it takes some time and then if we see that it is well proven, then we can put them forward.
Q. But why do we have this huge figure right now?
Because we focused on the Russian military-industry complex, so the different little pieces that are there in the missiles and are there in the drones that actually are helping them to put together those missiles or drones. That is why the companies doing this [and] producing them are sanctioned, but also we are enlisting people who have been working with these sham elections on the occupied territories either as candidates or somehow helping these sham elections to take place.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/media/video/I-295921