EU Has 'Less Appetite' For New Round Of Russia Sanctions - Polish Prime Minister

EU Has 'Less Appetite' for New Round of Russia Sanctions - Polish Prime Minister

The European Union has "much less willingness and appetite" to impose fresh sanctions against Russia, since the bloc's member states have started to experience certain "fatigue" more than a year after the start of the Ukraine conflict, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday

WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2023) The European Union has "much less willingness and appetite" to impose fresh sanctions against Russia, since the bloc's member states have started to experience certain "fatigue" more than a year after the start of the Ukraine conflict, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday.

"Today, there is much less willingness and appetite (in the EU) for further sanctions. I think there is, so to say, fatigue," Morawiecki told Polish broadcaster RMF FM.

At the same time, he added that Warsaw was involved in both helping Brussels close loopholes to prevent sanctions circumvention and drafting new punitive measures.

The topic of sanctions is set to return to the EU's agenda "in the coming weeks," the Polish prime minister said, adding that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was open to this idea.

"I am cautiously optimistic that we will be able to convince our partners of the necessity of a next package," Morawiecki said.

The Polish prime minister also noted that he expected the 11th package of sanctions to target Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and Russian diamonds.

In late February, the EU introduced its 10th sanctions package against Russia, which tightened export restrictions regarding dual-use goods and technologies, targeted 96 organizations and banned the broadcasting of the RT Arabic channel and the Sputnik Arabic.

However, the latest package did not include any direct restrictions against Rosatom. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Budapest would not support any sanctions that would limit its nuclear cooperation with Russia, adding that Rosatom was one of the world's leading nuclear energy companies and sanctions against it could threaten global nuclear security. France and Bulgaria are also reportedly blocking the introduction of restrictive measures against the Russian nuclear energy corporation.