Estonia\u2019s foreign minister wants the bloc to put more pressure on Moscow via Beijing<\/p>\n
The EU must confront China for \u201cenabling\u201d Russia in the conflict with Ukraine, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has claimed. \u00a0
\nTsahkna told journalists earlier this week that Brussels must\u00a0\u201cdeal with\u201d Beijing in order to put more pressure on Moscow.\u00a0China has consistently called for a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
\n\u201cIf the existential threat is there, and China is the main enabler for Russia to wage the war, then first of all, we need to deal with that. And this is a very clear message,\u201d Tsahkna said, linking his remarks to a broader EU push for tougher measures against Russia.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US warned EU against stealing Russia\u2019s assets \u2013 Tusk<\/p>\n
Last week, EU member states voted to keep Russian sovereign funds temporarily frozen. The bloc\u2019s leadership invoked emergency powers to bypass opposition from some member states, including Hungary and Slovakia, with debates ongoing over how to further bend legal frameworks to funnel the funds to Ukraine under the so-called \u201creparations loan\u201d scheme.
\n\u201cEverybody\u2019s talking about the frozen Russian assets, which actually we have. We own them, as we have frozen them,\u201d Tsahkna claimed, insisting that the EU must make a decisive move and use this leverage to force its way back into the US-backed negotiations over Ukraine\u2019s future.
\nCritics within the EU warn that the plan to seize Russian assets carries serious legal and financial risks. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has described the scheme as unlawful and tantamount to a \u201cdeclaration of war.\u201d Belgium, where most of the funds are held via the Euroclear depository, has also raised concerns about potential legal exposure.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Baltic nations want EU bailout after Russia sanctions backfire \u2013 Politico<\/p>\n
Russian officials have repeatedly condemned the freezing and any proposed use of sovereign assets as illegal under international law. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has called the plan \u201cblatant theft,\u201d warning that Russia will pursue legal action.
\nChina remains one of the EU\u2019s largest trading partners and a central link in global supply chains vital to European industry. The previous 19 sanctions packages targeting Moscow have already backfired against several EU member states, and treating China as a \u201cco-belligerent\u201d\u00a0risks dragging the bloc into a broader trade conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Estonia\u2019s foreign minister wants the bloc to put more pressure on Moscow via Beijing The EU must confront China for \u201cenabling\u201d Russia in the conflict with Ukraine, Estonian Foreign Minister…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t