The last European summit of the year was largely devoted to Ukraine and the European aid provided to kyiv.
With our special correspondent in Brussels, Daniel Vallot
During this meeting of European Heads of State, the 27 agreed on an overall envelope of 18 billion euros aid to Ukraine in 2023.
European leaders also agreed on a ninth round of sanctions against the regime of Vladimir Poutine. The deal, which is due to be formally finalized on Friday, includes blacklisting nearly 200 more people and banning investment in Russia’s mining industry, among other things.
We are very committed to support Ukraine as much as we can.
→ #EUCO confirmed the €18 billion macro-financial assistance ??.
→ We welcomed the decision to increase the European Peace Facility.
→ We succeeded in reaching agreement on the 9th package of sanctions. pic.twitter.com/nOMZ6FvMkm
—Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) December 15, 2022
Emmanuel Macron the French president, welcomed it at the end of this European summit. And even if the Russian economy has not collapsed, in the eyes of the French president, European sanctions have an impact and we must continue to use them: “ These sanctions, we know that they are effective. They are gradually producing their effects, including on Russia’s ability to produce and regenerate its weapons “.
Dialogue with Putin
Emmanuel Macron also persists in wanting to discuss with the Russian president. Its objective is to call on Mr. Putin in order to obtain a truce in the coming weeks to the bombardments on Ukrainian civilian infrastructures, which are, for some, ” war crimes “. ” They attack civilian infrastructure, civilians themselves, and that’s not the nature of the war he launched, which was a territorial conquest and combat between soldiers. added the Head of State.
And to get there, he also wants to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin’s regime. “ I would like this call for a truce for the coming weeks to convince certain powers, such as China, India and others, to join us and put pressure on Russia. “, did he declare.
This desire to maintain dialogue with Vladimir Putin is, in any case, hardly appreciated by the Ukrainian authorities. And it remains highly criticized within the EU by Poland and the Baltic States, countries of Eastern Europe which, moreover, regretted at the end of this summit the weakness of the new sanctions adopted by the EU.