The EU's tenth package of sanctions against Russia in connection with the war in Ukraine is not finalised, but is being worked on. This was stated by both Foreign Minister Káčer and Czech diplomatic chief Lipavský after the EU Council meeting. Káčer specified that Slovakia supports the tenth package of sanctions, while the Slovak side has already presented the things that it believes should be taken into account in the upcoming package. The situation in Ukraine dominated the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday. Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacer said that the topics were mainly related to the safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is located in the Russian-occupied territory of Ukraine. At the meeting, the ministers agreed to provide additional military aid to Ukraine worth half a billion euros. Claiming that there was a consensus of opinion on this, Kacer said that differing views concerned mainly supplies of heavy weapon systems for Kiev. "The consensus is that it is necessary to endure until Ukraine restores its territorial integrity and sovereignty on its territory. This was stressed by a number of partners, and I voiced the same opinion," said Kacer, adding that the ministers also discussed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace plan and Kiev's chances of succeeding in its EU-integration efforts. "I spoke about the need to maintain a positive outlook for Ukraine in terms of its EU membership, which should be clearly confirmed by the upcoming EU-Ukraine summit," noted Kacer. The ministers also addressed the issue of an extraordinary criminal court for Russian war crimes in Ukraine. "We stressed that such a court would make sense. It must be set up on the basis of existing norms of international law and should receive broad support from UN states," Kacer opined.
Source: TASR
