NATO, the European Council and the G7 – the ambassadors will meet this afternoon in the Belgian capital to lay the groundwork for a trio of high-level summits.
Russia’s war on Ukraine will dominate the negotiations, but after the first rounds of sanctions, some Western EU countries appear to be beginning to falter. By increasing its sanctions, some, such as Germany, have expressed support for the suspension, “to reconsider the effect of the sanctions imposed so far.”
In an effort to show something after the two-day meeting, EU leaders are now focusing on closing any loopholes in existing barriers. But even here, there is great doubt as to how far Europeans will actually go, because the biggest holes for sanctions come from other countries that have refused to impose similar sanctions, such as Israel, India and China.
European Council President Charles Michael and Britain’s Boris Johnson spoke on the phone on Monday – but Michael did not extend an invitation to his British ally for EUCO talks and US President Joe Biden to join EU leaders after the EU summit. Undoubtedly, Johnson’s recent comments compare Ukraine’s struggle for survival to Britain’s vote to leave the EU, which in any case helped to be included …
There was good will in Brussels to defeat Brexit for unity in the face of existential threats, but the comments of the British Prime Minister show that the same sentiment should not prevail in London. In fact, Johnson’s presence in Brussels for the NATO-G7 talks may be close enough to comfort some.
Canada not invited: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is in Brussels for G7 and NATO meetings, has not been invited to the Council of Europe. However, according to House Speaker Roberta Metzola, Trinidad will address a full session of the European Parliament on Wednesday.
The foreign ministers of Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Croatia on Monday called for the EU to recognize Ukraine and grant it candidate status as soon as possible.
This has led to some angry reactions from countries opposing the granting of this rule to Ukraine. “No minister (or ambassador on this issue) is prepared to tell their leaders to reconsider something that was resolved 1.5 weeks ago,” an EU ambassador wrote in a text message. “Shall we subject Pita to a further 10 hours of discussion on an issue we have now resolved?”
