Putin classifies US sanctions as “serious” and a “hostile act” but is available for dialogue

This Thursday, October 23, the Russian president classified the sanctions adopted by the United States against the country’s two largest oil companies as a “hostile act”, but expressed his willingness to continue dialogue on the conflict in Ukraine.

Speaking to the Russian press in the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin stated that the sanctions announced on Wednesday against Rosneft and Lukoil are serious and will have repercussions on bilateral relations with Washington, but added that he does not foresee a “significant impact” on the country’s economy.

“They are serious and may have some consequences, but they will not have a significant impact on our economic health”he maintained.

Zelensky expects “positive decision” on Russian assets that he says scares Moscow

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile said, in Brussels, that he expected a “positive decision” from the European Union (EU) regarding the use of frozen Russian assets to finance aid to Kiev, pointing out that Russia is “very afraid” of this measure.

“I hope they will make a political decision, a positive decision in some way to help Ukraine with these funds”, said Zelensky at a press conference at the headquarters of the European Council, after having participated as a guest in a debate with European leaders, gathered at a summit in Brussels, which has as one of the main points on the agenda the issue of using Russian assets frozen on European territory to finance support for Kiev.

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia is responsible for the war that led to Ukraine and “has to pay for this war”.

The Ukrainian leader considered that one of the best ways to put pressure on Moscow to force President Vladimir Putin to sit at the negotiating table, with a view to a ceasefire and a peace plan, is to resort to frozen Russian assets, ensuring that Russia “is very afraid” of the EU taking that decision.

According to the Ukrainian president, EU leaders are “close” to reaching an agreement on this measure.

Discussions in this European Council on this matter, which began this morning, will resume in the evening, as certain obstacles have not been overcome, namely the guarantees required by Belgium, the Member State where the majority of Russian assets are frozen, and which does not want to bear all the associated legal and financial risks.

Asked about the ongoing discussions in Brussels, Zelensky admitted that “the dialogue was not easy”, but assured that “it was very good”, and warned of the importance of reaching an agreement, maintaining that “the time to act on Russian assets is now”.

The possible mobilization of Russian assets frozen by the Europeans since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine to continue financing Kiev, proposed by the European Commission as a “reparation loan”, which could amount to 140 billion euros, was one of the first points on the agenda to be addressed at the summit in Brussels, but, according to diplomatic sources, it has not yet been possible to overcome Belgium’s resistance.

At the entrance to the Council, the Belgian Prime Minister, Bart de Wever, explained that Belgium will only admit to moving forward on this issue if there is “a complete mutualization of the risk, because there is a great risk” of reparations to Moscow and if “guarantees are established that, if the money has to be reimbursed, all Member States will contribute”.

The Belgian Prime Minister also mentioned a “third requirement”, arguing “that all countries that have assets [russos] fixed assets act together”.

“There are vast amounts of Russian money in other countries, which have remained silent on this matter”, he stressed.

At this afternoon’s press conference in Brussels, Zelensky was also asked about last week’s meeting at the White House in Washington, having responded with some irony, commenting that he had not yet obtained the desired Tomahawks missiles, but there will also be no “summit in Hungary without Ukraine”, referring to the meeting announced by the North American President, Donald Trump, with his counterpart Russian, Vladimir Putin, in the Hungarian capital.

The meeting was however discarded by the United States, which decided instead to move towards sanctions targeting Russian oil in the face of Moscow’s manifest lack of desire for a ceasefire in Ukraine.

“Every day brings something new. Maybe tomorrow we’ll have the Tomahawks,” Zelensky said.

According to diplomatic sources, the discussion on frozen Russian assets will resume tonight, with the presence of the Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, who left Lisbon for Brussels in the afternoon, after attending the funeral ceremonies of PSD founder Francisco Pinto Balsemão.

Ukraine has relied on financial and weapons aid from Western allies since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.

Kiev’s allies have also enacted sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy to try to diminish Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort in Ukraine.

The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory has plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).