Oil and gas embargo against Russia serves 'best interests of Europe' - Kuleba

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told this to journalists in Brussels on Monday before a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"I am in Brussels today to take part in a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Two big issues are on the agenda. The first is the EU's sixth package of sanctions. We all wonder how this saga ends. I would like to remind you that every day European countries continue to pay millions of euros to Russia for gas and oil, and then this money is used to finance Russia's war machine, its aggression and atrocities," Kuleba said.

In his opinion, this situation is contradictory to the entire European Union, which, on the one hand, supports Ukraine and, on the other hand, continues to pay Russia, which allows the Kremlin to continue the destruction on Ukrainian soil.

"In our opinion, this shouldn't work like this. Therefore, imposing sanctions on gas and oil trade serves the best interests of Europe, not only of Ukraine," the Ukrainian diplomat added.

According to him, another issue on the agenda of the meeting of European ministers is the discussion on granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership.

"We are convinced that this moment has come. We will work with all EU member states, as well as with the European Commission, to achieve a positive result and make Europe stronger, safer and more prosperous in the long run," Kuleba said.

He noted that he used the visit to discuss with his colleagues in the European Commission the issues of post-war normalization, including such issues as the rebuilding of Ukraine, humanitarian demining on its territory and many other issues.

"We have many positive bilateral issues on the trade agenda. The European Union is opening its doors to trade with Ukraine, and we are very grateful for that. Global food security remains a major issue for all of us. This is a big problem - how to lift the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports and allow the continuation of exports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the global market to prevent famine in Africa, Asia and other parts of the world," Kuleba said.