Check against delivery! 

I was here two weeks ago for the [NATO Defence] Ministerial meeting. The world has changed a lot since then.  

We are now witnessing a fully-fledged war on our borders. A war unleashed by President Putin against Ukraine, a completely unjustified war that is creating a lot of civilian casualties, with the use of arms strictly prohibited by the Geneva Convention, a lot of civilian losses.  

This is the moment to speak out and to stand up. This is the moment where transatlantic unity is more important than ever.  

We, at the European Union, have decided an unprecedented package of sanctions - financial, political, [and] economic – sanctions that will hurt the Russian economy a lot. We are supporting the right of Ukraine to defend. We really admire the courage of the army, the people and the government of Ukraine.  

I think it is important to launch the Moscow mechanism and to send monitoring missions to see which are the acts that can be considered war crimes. 

Once again, I think that this is the moment when we have to be united, because we cannot afford that might makes right. This is a critical moment in the history of Europe. 

Q&A 

Q. What do you expect from NATO today?

Strong unity and readiness to act, as much as we can.  

The important thing for me is to keep the unity of the European Union Member States around sanctions, which are going to be very damaging for the Russian economy, especially the ones related to the Central Bank and to keep the unity on how to provide arms to Ukraine.  

You know that this is the first time that we are engaged in these type of operations. That is why I am saying that this is a historical moment for the European Union to appear, not only more united, but also more effective. 

Q. Does Europe need to stop the flow of Russian energy, hydrocarbons or gas? That would be very effective and damaging for the Russian economy.

Sure, it will.  

We will consider everything. One week ago I told you that everything was on the table. And you saw that everything was on the table, because some measures that nobody could have expected, have been taken. So, everything remains on the table. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-219911