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Good evening.  

The first Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) of the year could not have started with another issue than with the war in Ukraine.  

Unfortunately, 2023 has not seen any interruption of the fighting. The military situation is unchanged, but do not confuse the stability in the frontline with operational calm. There is no operational calm. On the contrary, there are very violent combats on the Donbass, around the city of Bakhmut, and a little bit more to the north, in the oblast of Luhansk. The fight is very fierce and there are a lot of casualties in this fight.  

So, we had to start the first [Foreign Affairs Council of the] year, talking about Ukraine. 

Talking about Ukraine because Russia continues its systematic, barbaric attacks on Ukranian cities, killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructures.  

Everybody has seen the horrible images from Dnipro, in one of the deadliest single attacks against civilians since the start of the war with more that 40 people - including six children – killed.  

Ukraine is resisting with courage and determination. Let me tell you that we will continue our support to Ukraine. Ukraine has to win this war and we will support [it] in the best possible way. 

It is almost a year since Russia invaded Ukraine. We confirmed to the Ukrainian Foreign, Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who joined us via VTC: our collective endeavour will continue, as long as it takes. 

We are preparing the EU-Ukraine Summit on 3 February. It will be the first Summit since the start of the war and with Ukraine as a candidate country. 

The deliverables.  

Today, we reached a political agreement for the 7th tranche of military support [under the European Peace Facility], with an additional €500 million and an additional assistance measure worth €45 million for the Ukrainian [armed] forces being trained by our military training mission, by the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) that I visited before Christmas, in Poland.   

This brings the total military support under the European Peace Facility to € 3.6 billion.  

This is the military assistance support from the European Union budget, from the intergovernmental fund. But keep in mind the figure of €49 billion: €49 billion is the total amount of support to Ukraine. Military, financial, economic and humanitarian [support]: almost €50 billion. This means that the European Union is ranking first - Member States and European institutions, all together - we are ranking first in our support to Ukraine. 

Second, our support for Ukraine’s initiative for a just peace.  We will continue supporting the substance of this proposal, to ensure the broadest possible global support. For that, we will insist on the two key elements: Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, and Ukraine’s inherent right of self-defence. Third, the need for accountability.  

It is Russia that is on the side of war, on the side of the violation of international law. Ukraine stands for peace and is taking initiatives in that regard. We have not seen any genuine willingness from Russia regarding a fair and sustainable peace.  

We have been working also on the options for an accountability mechanism. Work is ongoing in the United Nations to this end, for this purpose, including in the context of the next United Nations General Assembly, which we fully support. Central to this work is to preserve the critical role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in international criminal justice.  

There is large support for establishing an International Prosecutor Office in The Hague as a first step for accountability. 

Then, the sanctions. There is a lot of debate about sanctions: the effectiveness of the sanctions, the price caps on oil and gas. Let me just show this image. 

As you can see, the blue and red lines are the price of the barrel of Russian oil and the Brent – North Sea and Urals. You can see, both were completely identical. They were completely identical until the start of the war and the imposing of the price cap. Today, the Russian oil is being sold at $40 a barrel [while] Brent is at $80. This means that the Russian oil is being sold at a discount of 50%, and it is being bought by mainly India and China.

For the first time, the oil market for Russian oil is driven by demand. [Russia sells at] $40 -- Russia needs $70 in order to balance its budget. So, it is losing $40 per barrel. It is a big hit on Russia’s financial stability.  

On Palestine, which was the second issue and the most important point on the agenda after Ukraine. We met with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, who joined us during the lunch and shared with us the dire picture of the situation on the ground, with record Palestinian casualties in the West Bank – I said record - and continuing highlevel of tensions. 

We will continue our internal discussions, after listening to how challenging is the situation, on how to enhance our bilateral relations further, working at the ministerial level.   

Everyone in the Foreign Affairs Council reaffirmed the commitment to protect the viability of the two-state solution, giving support on the ground and keeping it a political horizon.  

We discussed the importance of a clear timeline towards holding national Palestinian elections and progressing with the Palestinian reform plans. And we will continue providing our support for it. 

The third issue – or point on the agenda – was the Sahel and the situation in the Coastal countries of West Africa. Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea remain a priority for the European Union. Unfortunately, the security and political situation is becoming worse and worse. The spill over of the terrorist threat from the Sahel to the coastal states is no longer a risk. It is no longer a hypothesis. It is a reality.  

Our commitment is intact. We have to engage more with our regional partners before the situation becomes critical. The unacceptable presence of the Russian Wagner mercenaries adds to the current spiral of violence and insecurity.  

At the end of 2022, we agreed on a new Military Partnership Mission in Niger. It will be launched next month. 

Today, we also agreed that we need to do more concrete engagement with the Coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea. Ministers [of Foreign Affairs] agreed on asking the [European] External Action Service to develop a Crisis Management Concept (CMC) to offer these countries targeted training and support. We will also deploy Military Advisors in our European Union Delegations.  

On Iran, the Ministers condemned the brutal repression of protesters – in particular the executions. We will continue supporting the right of Iranians in defence of their fundamental human rights. This is the message that I conveyed to the Foreign Minister of Iran [Hossein Amir-Abdollahian] several times.  

Today, we adopted the fourth sanctions package under the Iran Human Rights Regime, listing another 37 [Iranians] responsible for this crackdown. This includes high-level figures of the media, political personnel and also the high-ranking members from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.  

On Armenia [and] Azerbaijan – this is another concrete deliverable of the Council today – the establishment of a new full-fledged civilian mission in Armenia, with about 100 staff to observe and report on the situation on the ground to contribute to human security and confidence-building between Armenian and Azerbaijan. 

On Afghanistan, we discussed the appalling developments in Afghanistan with additional restrictions on Afghan women and girls. We are assessing the implications of these latest developments, including through existing or additional mechanisms for holding the Taliban accountable for their human rights violations. The [Foreign Affairs] Council in February will take concrete decisions on that.  

And let me end with a very important issue, which is the Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue.  

I briefed the Ministers on the mission of our EU Special Representative [Miroslav Lajčák] last week on my behalf, together with US Deputy Assistant Secretary [Gabriel] Escobar, and the Foreign Policy Advisers of the leaders of France, Germany and Italy. All of them travelled to Kosovo and Serbia to continue discussions on the proposal on normalisation of relations. We stressed that advancing on this Proposal would bring considerable benefits for both sides. And I consider that this is the only way to break the vicious cycle of crisis on the ground and reduce the risk for further escalation. We expect serious commitment and readiness to engage constructively in order to make this proposal advance. 

Q&A 

Q. Deux questions sur l’Ukraine. Quel est votre message au gouvernement allemand et à la ministre [des affaires étrangères de l’Allemagne, Annalena] Baerbock? Est-ce qu’elle vous a rassuré par rapport à ce que l’Allemagne va faire sur la question des [chars] Leopard 2? La deuxième question est plus générale. Quelle est la crédibilité de l’Union européenne en tant qu’acteur géopolitique avec une autonomie stratégique si un pays membre peut bloquer d’autres pays membres qui veulent [aider] l’Ukraine avec des chars de combat? 

Ecoutez, je sais bien que la réunion de Ramstein a été dominée par les débats sur les chars Leopard [2] mais il faut dire clairement que le résultat de cette réunion a été, du point de vue quantitatif, très important et très positif. La détermination des Etats-Unis et de l’Europe à intensifier leur soutien militaire à l’Ukraine a été claire, et démontrée de façon éclatante.

Si vous regardez les chiffres, les Américains ont annoncé 2,5 milliards [de dollars], les Allemands, 1  milliards [d’euros]. Les Danois ont décidé de livrer à l’Ukraine l’intégralité des obusiers CAESAR - 16  commandés à la France. Les Suédois ont annoncé la livraison d’Archer, qui est un système d’artillerie parmi les plus performants du monde. La Finlande a annoncé un paquet de 400 millions [d’euros], soit une somme supérieure à l'ensemble de tous ses engagements antérieurs.

J’ai ici la liste de toutes les capacités militaires que les Etats membres de l’Union européenne se sont engagés à fournir [lors de] la réunion de Ramstein, qui [était] une réunion de coordination.

Pendant le Conseil [Affaires étrangères], on a discuté de tout ça et c’est évident - la ministre des affaires étrangères [de l’Allemagne] l’avait déjà dit avant – que l’Allemagne ne bloque pas [le fait] que d’autres pays qui veulent le faire, puissent exporter ses chars Leopard [2]. Donc, l’Allemagne ne bloque pas les exportations de chars Leopard [2]. 

Q. Madame [Catherine] Colonna, the French Foreign Affairs Minister, this morning, said that it is time for Europeans to think together about appropriate answer to the Iran hostage policy. I would like to ask you: did you discuss this issue? Are you thinking to have a coming European action regarding the issue of the European hostages in Iran? My second question is a very regular one: do you still believe that the JCPOA is still alive? Do you think there is an opportunity to revive it despite the very tense and very complex situation in relation to Iran?  

Avec l’Iran, il y a les problèmes - comme je l’ai dit plus tôt - de la répression des manifestations, des manifestant, la peine capitale, les armes à la Russie, le nombre de “dual-nationals” (binationaux) - les personnes qui sont à la fois iraniennes et nationaux de plusieurs États membres - qui sont arrêtés en Iran. Tout ça, évidemment, a été discuté. Ça fait un ensemble qui est évidemment rendent difficile, si besoin était, des avancées dans les négociations pour l’accord nucléaire, que je peux dire, pour l'instant, est en standby. Il n’est pas mort mais il ne bouge pas. 

Q. Have you discussed a possible European action to get Iran – let's say - allow the European citizens who are hostage or condemned in Iran, like Mr Olivier Vandecasteele and others, coming back to their country? 

On a approuvé un quatrième paquet de sanctions contre l’Iran, comme je vous l’ai dit. 

Q. Would you be proud to see the majority of the €500 million that you have agreed today to reimburse Member States sending military hardware to Ukraine to be spent on the provision of tanks to Ukraine’s army, given that your Ukranian counterparts believe that is the best way to help them win the war against Russia? 

Well, this has to be decided by the board of the European Peace Facility. There is a Committee where the Member States are represented. We match the requests by Ukraine with the Member States to provide military support, and it is the Committee who will decide how to distribute these €500 million. I cannot tell you, but why not? It is a matter for Member States to decide.  

Q. On the Sahel and Coastal West Africa, you mentioned a couple of concrete actions. You spoke about Military Advisors in Delegations, and Crisis Management Concept from the EEAS. Given the scale of the challenge, you said that the situation is deteriorating. Is this enough or you have got something else up your sleeve? Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, has been welcomed today in Pretoria, South Africa. The EU and South Africa are strategic partners. Is there a sort of concern for you that South Africa still sees Russia as a friend?  

Sí, en efecto, el Ministro Lavrov ha hecho otra gira por África explicando su narrativa. Nosotros tenemos una conferencia ministerial a partir de pasado mañana, que espero que se desarolle – como todas las conferencias ministeriales – tratando los asuntos bilaterales pero, claro, también la situación de la guerra en Ucrania. Nada particular: el hecho de que Rusia también despliegue su diplomacia no es nada nuevo.  

Q. I would like to press a little bit on the tanks issue, because it seems to be one of the most important questions of the day. You said, coming into the Council today, that the position of the Council is divided on that, so not all of the Member States agree on that. So, I would like to ask you if there was a tension in the Council on the issue and if you foresee when this tension can be resolved.  

No, pero, ¿por qué dice usted tensión? Si ha habido en Ramstain, una reunión de coordinación donde estaban representados todos los estados. La discusión ya tuvo lugar. Hoy ha habido un intercambio de opiniones. Yo quisiera insistir en que la ayuda militar a Ucrania, el tema de los tanques pesados es importante pero, por favor, valoren ustedes la cantidad de compromisos que salieron de Ramstein para incrementar la ayuda militar con otros muchos más medios. La única novedad que surge de estas discusiones es que, por lo que he entendido, Alemania no va a prohibir la exportación de estas armas si algún país de la Unión Europea que las tenga desea hacerlo.  

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-236249